With Han Kang's win, I thought it'd be nice to shine a spotlight on some other great Korean and Korean-American writers.
I was organizing my books and pulled the ones by Koreans and Korean-Americans and I was struck by the breadth of topics, genres, and approaches. I would love to see what others have read. The richness of these texts, fiction and nonfiction are really impressive.
There's quite a bit of fiction that moves between Korea and America (sometimes other western countries), but there's also Fantasy YA, whip-smart critical theory essay collections, and historical fiction that allows English-language readers a glimpse into the story of Korea.
The ones I listed below are merely the ones I own (my collection is limited)– I'm curious what else you've seen in Korean/Korean-American writing? Most recently, I read **Violets** by Kyung-Sook Shin and it really struck me because of the way it approaches feminism and queerness without ever directly mentioning those concepts because they were still so very very taboo in Seoul during the 90s.
The Evening Hero (fiction) by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
Crying in H Mart (memoir) by Michelle Zauner
East to America (nonfiction) edited by Elaine H. Kim and Eun-Young Yu
All You can Ever Know (memoir) by Nicole Chung
Pachinko (fiction) by Min Jin Lee
Happiness Falls (fiction– thriller/mystery) by Angie Kim
If You Leave Me (1950s historical fiction) by Crystal Hana Kim
The Stone Home (1980s historical) by Crystal Hana Kim (This reminds me a lot of Claire Keegan's "Small Things Like These" about the Magdalene Laundries. It's about a similar initiative that took place in Korea right before the Olympics)
Still Life with Rice (memoir) by Helie Lee
Beasts of a Little Land (historical/fantasy fiction) by Juhea Kim
Same Bed Different Dreams (science/speculative fiction) by Ed Park
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (YA fantasy/folk tale retelling) by Alexie Oh
Violets (1990s originally published in Korean) by Kyung-Sook Shin
Shelter (fiction) by Jung Yun
Kim Ji-Young, born in 1982 (originally published in Korean)
My Year Abroad (fiction) by Chang-Rae Lee
The Surrendered (1950s-1990s fiction) by Chang-Rae Lee
Human Acts (originally published in Korean, fiction) by Han Kang
Everything Belongs to Us (1970s-80s fiction) by Yoojin Grace Wuertz
When We Fell Apart (fiction) by Soon Wiley
The Magical Language of Others (memoir) by E.J. Koh
The Martyred (1950s historical fiction) by Richard E. Kim
American Seoul (memoir) by Helena Rho
Biting the Hand (essays) by Julia Kim
Minor Feelings (essays) by Cathy Park Hong
by littlestbookstore