THE KOREA SOCIETY

is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization with individual and corporate members that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness, understanding, and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea. Learn more about us here.

East Goes West: Younghill Kang, His Life and Works

Media

Drawing by Karl Stevens for the New York Review of Books

What if the finest, funniest, craziest, sanest, most cheerfully depressing Korean-American novel was also one of the first? - Ed Park

Join Alexander Chee and Ed Park in their conversation on Younghill Kang, the first Korean-American novelist and a pioneer of Asian American literature. As they discuss the life and career of Kang and his novel East Goes West, the two eminent writers reflect on the emergence of Korean American literature in the 20th century and Kang's legacy.

Central to it are the lives of the other Koreans....living in America, all waiting for their full humanity— and their intellectual and artistic gifts — to be recognized. - Alexander Chee

 

Due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this program will be conducted virtually. This live session will be provided free of charge at the specified date and time. A limited number of viewing links will be provided to the people who sign up through the form below. Those unable to view the live session will have the opportunity to watch the recorded video or listen to the podcast soon after.

To order East Goes West, please visit:
 https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/606933/east-goes-west-by-younghill-kang-foreword-by-alexander-chee-afterword-and-notes-by-sunyoung-lee/


East Goes West: Younghill Kang, His Life and Works
with Alexander Chee and Ed Park

Thursday, September 17, 2020 | 6 PM

The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Alexander Chee is the bestselling author of the novels The Queen of the Night and Edinburgh and the essay collection How to Write an Autobiographical Novel. The winner of a Whiting Award, he is an associate professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth College.

Ed Park is the author of the novel Personal Days and the founding editor of The Believer. He has been a newspaper, magazine, and book editor, and his writings have appeared in the New York Times and the New York Review of Books.