Literature

  • New Narratives in Korea: Baek Sehee

    Wednesday, November 9, 2022 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      Part memoir, part self-help book, and completely engrossing, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee is a book that captures the edgy relationship many millennials and Gen Z-ers have with hopelessness, hunger, and the pressure to be perfect. A runaway bestseller in Korea where her readers include RM of BTS, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is newly translated into English by International Booker Prize shortlisted translator Anton Hur. Baek Sehee is a successful young social media... Read More
  • A Conversation with Su Cho

    Tuesday, October 11, 2022 | 6:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      How do our stories transform as they are passed down to each generation? Prize-winning poet Su Cho explores the legacies of language and lore in her unforgettable debut collection, The Symmetry of Fish. Selected by Space Struck author Paige Lewis for the National Poetry Series, these poems trace the narratives and phrases of a Korean American immigrant family with absorbing tenderness and curiosity. Cho threads stories of food and folktales through her meditations on joy, grief, friendship, faith, and... Read More
  • Author Talks: Lee Geum-yi

    Tuesday, October 4, 2022 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      “Lee Geum-yi has a gift for taking little-known embers of history and transforming them into moving, compelling, and uplifting stories. I loved Willow from the first page to the last. Loved her courage, and her tenacious, yet caring, beautiful soul. The Picture Bride is the ultimate story of the power of friendship—a must read!” — Heather Morris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Three Sisters While reading a book on Korean-American immigration history, Lee Geum-yi... Read More
  • JOHN CHO

    Tuesday, July 19, 2022 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
    Author Photo: Benjo Arwas As one of the first Korean American actors to blaze a unique path through cultural and business barriers into the mainstream, John Cho’s esteemed career has spanned over two decades with compelling performances across film and television. Cho is also a former 7th-grade English teacher who grew up as a Korean immigrant kid in Texas and East L.A. (among many other places). This spring, he became an instant New York Times bestselling author when he published Troublemaker, an incredible... Read More
  • KA YA! Korean-American YA Novels & Authors

    Wednesday, June 15, 2022 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
     Illustration by Subin Yoo Meet the new generation of Korean American young adult novelists. Drawing inspiration from the Korean pop culture they grew up consuming and their personal journey as immigrant kids, these authors offer refreshing and compelling representations on myriads of subject matters, from intergenerational struggles and family bonds to identity issues. And they are conquering the bestseller lists while offering a mirror to the generations of young readers that they themselves did not have.... Read More
  • Author Talks: Gu Byeong-mo

    Tuesday, June 14, 2022 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick • A Most Anticipated Read in LitHub, CrimeReads, Thrillist, and Popsugar The kinetic story of a sixty-five-year-old female assassin who faces an unexpected threat in the twilight of her career—The Old Woman with the Knife is an international bestseller and the English language debut from an award-winning South Korean author Gu Byeong-mo. At sixty-five, Hornclaw is beginning to slow down. She lives modestly in a small apartment, with only her aging dog, a rescue named... Read More
  • Marie Myung-Ok Lee with Frances Cha

    Tuesday, May 24, 2022 | 6:30 PM
    • Youtube Video:
     Author photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz “The Evening Hero is at once a hilarious, lacerating look at the American for-profit healthcare system and a profoundly moving examination of the long-term effects of war, trauma, and displacement on individuals, families, and cultures. I will never forget Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s evening hero, Dr. Yungman Kwak." —Ann Packer, New York Times bestselling author of The Children’s Crusade Chances are, you’ve read something you loved by the talented and prolific Marie Myung-Ok Lee.... Read More
  • A Conversation with Yoon Choi

    Thursday, April 28, 2022 | 6:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
     Author Photo by Aaron Jay Young Maureen Corrigan/Fresh Air Top 10 Book of the Year ● Longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection ● An NPR Book Best Book of the Year ● A Kirkus Best Book of the Year A long-married couple is forced to confront their friend’s painful past when a church revival comes to a nearby town … A woman in an arranged marriage struggles to connect with the son she hid from her husband for years … A well-meaning sister unwittingly reunites an abuser with... Read More
  • Beasts of a Little Land with Juhea Kim

    Tuesday, December 7, 2021 | 6:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      “An epic novel brings complex 20th-century Korean history to life…. Extraordinary…. Gorgeous prose and unforgettable characters combine to make a literary masterpiece.” -Kirkus Reviews (starred review) An epic story of love, war, and redemption set against the backdrop of the Korean independence movement, Beasts of a Little Land follows the intertwined fates of a young girl sold to a courtesan school and the penniless son of a hunter. From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the... Read More
  • Author Talks: Sang Young Park

    Tuesday, November 16, 2021 | 5:00 PM
    • Youtube Video:
      “Park’s stunning English-language debut takes readers through the wild highs and lows of young adulthood . . . The strength of the narrator, notably his flexibility of voice and expansiveness, caries the narrative to great heights, making this a standout among queer literature.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) Love in the Big City is the English-language debut of Sang Young Park, one of Korea’s most exciting young writers. A runaway bestseller, the novel hit the top five lists of all the major bookstores... Read More