Category Archives: Korean America

Wear Purple Day

This morning I woke up and put on a purple v-neck t-shirt, in remembrance of Tyler Clementi, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase, Asher Brown, Billy Lucas, Zach Harrington and GLBT teens everywhere who took their lives out of fear. This … Continue reading

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Filed under current events, GLBT, Korean America, Korean American, Koreanish, politics

Liberate Laura & Euna Now.

Supporters of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the American journalists currently under arrest in North Korea, have made this poster to publicize the case. For the latest updates on how to help, including printing the poster and putting it up … Continue reading

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Filed under Korean America, politics

The Kogi Taco Truck of LA

The search for the legendary Kogi taco truck of LA. The disembodied book comes of age? “The key thing to understand about Korean Mom punishments is that they will not make sense. Ever. It will not teach you that you … Continue reading

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Filed under blogs, food, Korean America, Korean life, novels

Books You Have Waited For Late At Night When You Had Nothing To Read

Miles From Nowhere, Nami Mun, Riverhead – Nami Mun’s novel in stories, Miles From Here,  the life of a Korean American runaway in the Bronx , is the book I hoped existed after I finished reading Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son … Continue reading

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Filed under books, fiction, Korean America, Korean life, writers, writing

‘Foxes’ Preview, Page 1

Teddy O’Connor, my friend and collaborator, has finished page 1 of the graphic interconnected stories (comic?) that we’re doing, called Foxes. He sent this over to me. It’s blank as I’ll be adding the text in later, but this is … Continue reading

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Filed under fox demons, graphic novels, Korean America, Korean American, Korean Queer, Koreanish, what I am working on

A Million Writers

Put yourself in the way of your fate, I tell my students, on the last day of the Wesleyan conference. It’s advice I got from a horoscope back when I was either getting into or out of graduate school. I … Continue reading

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Filed under author's own, blogs, books, fiction, Korea, Korean America, Korean American, MFA programs, novels, writers, writing

Korean Enough

I teach a class in the novel for three days at the Wesleyan Writer’s Conference, and then drive to New Haven to take the train into New York City Wednesday night, headed to an event co-hosted by Guernica Magazine and … Continue reading

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Filed under books, fiction, Korean America, Korean American, Korean life, Korean Queer, Koreanish, novels, politics, writers, writing

Tomorrow’s Koreanish Stars Today

People Magazine is catching a certain amount of flack this morning for having published an item that misidentifies a photo of Karl Yune as Rain, in the new Speed Racer film. Speed Racer, it’s worth pointing out, has 3 young … Continue reading

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Filed under film, Korea, Korean America, Korean American, Korean Cinema, Korean life, Koreanish, koreanish headers, Uncategorized

My Favorite Books This Week: The San Mateo APA Lit edition

Last night, over dinner in San Mateo with Professor Stephen H. Sohn of Stanford, who’s done some literary criticism of my first novel, Edinburgh, we talked about these books. And how everyone should read them. World Famous Love Acts, by … Continue reading

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Filed under books, Korean America, Korean American, novels, poetry, writers, writing

I don’t know, I just do.

On my visits to Korea, I felt very much like the wrong sort of grandchild, the lumpen half-breed, who couldn’t speak Korean and who couldn’t look Korean. How do you tell them apart, a cousin asked me, about Americans. I … Continue reading

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Filed under author's own, fox demons, Korea, Korean America, Korean American, Koreanish, product, writers, writing