Eugenia Kim (born 1952) is a Korean American writer and novelist who lives in Washington, DC. She is most known for her novel, The Calligrapher's Daughter, which was critically acclaimed and won multiple awards, including a 2009 Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction. Kim teaches at Fairfield University's MFA Creative Writing program.
Eugenia Kim | |
---|---|
Born | 1952 (age 71–72) White Plains, New York, U.S. |
Language | English |
Education | Central Connecticut State College University of Maryland, College Park (BA) Bennington College (MFA) |
Genre | Historical fiction |
Notable awards | Borders Original Voices Award 2009 |
Literature portal |
Works
editThe Calligrapher's Daughter. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 2009. pp. 386. ISBN 978-0-8050-8912-7.
Kim's debut novel, The Calligrapher's Daughter, won the 2009 Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction,[1] and was shortlisted for the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.[2]
The Calligrapher's Daughter received a Publishers Weekly (PW) starred review[3] among other advance reviews.[4] It was also published by Bloomsbury (UK), in January 2010, and has been translated and published in Indonesia and South Korea. Kim's epic historical novel, inspired by the life of her mother, is about a young woman who fights for a brighter future in early 20th-century Korea during the Japanese occupation. In addition to other press attention, including a less favorable review by the Smithsonian Bookdragon (see External links), The Calligrapher's Daughter was named Critic's Pick and a Best Book of 2009[5] by The Washington Post, and was a September 2009 Book Pick in Good Housekeeping magazine.
Her stories and essays were published by Potomac Review, APAJ—the former literary journal of the Asian American Writers Workshop, Our Bodies, Ourselves (2005 edition) and in anthologies, including Echoes Upon Echoes: New Korean American Writing,[6] edited by Elaine H. Kim and Laura Hyun Yi. Kang. Her short story, "Orientation," was first runner-up in the 2001 F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Contest.[7]
Kim's second novel, The Kinship of Secrets, was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in November 2018.[8]
Biography
editThe daughter of Korean immigrant parents who came to America shortly after the Pacific War, Kim was born in White Plains, New York and raised in Takoma Park, Maryland. She attended Central Connecticut State University (then College), and the University of Maryland, from which she received a BA in Studio Art. Following a long career in graphic design, she received her MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College in 2001.
In May, 2010, Kim presented at the American Studies Association of Korea, at the invitation of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, and at Sookmyung Women's University Library as part of an exhibition, "A Glimpse into the World of Korean American Literature."[9] She has presented at the Library of Congress Asian American Association, the American Library Association, and elsewhere.
She teaches fiction at Fairfield University's MFA Creative Writing Program.[10]
Awards
edit2009 Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction
Shortlisted, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, 2010
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Fellow, Millay Colony for the Arts
Eli Cantor Fellow, Yaddo
Fellow, Hedgebrook
Stanford Calderwood Fellow, The MacDowell Colony
Fellow, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
2019 New American Voices Award Finalists by the Institute for Immigration Research for her book - The Kinship of Secrets.[11]
References
edit- ^ PR Newswire, "Borders Announces 2009 Original Voices Award Winners," January 14, 2010
- ^ Dayton Literary Peace Prize, 2010 Finalists Shortlist Archived 2018-11-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Publishers Weekly, Reviews 6/1/09
- ^ Advance reviews:
- Interview by Publishers Weekly, June 15, 2009
- Library Journal review, 06/16/2009
- Booklist review, July 2009
- Vogue.com "2009 Summer's Best Beach Reads" Archived 2011-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
- Kirkus Reviews, Fall Preview Big Book of 2009 Debut Fiction,[permanent dead link ] (interview, p.11)
- Publishers Weekly, "Hardcovers: Fiction/First Novels & Collections" 05/29/2009
- ^ The Washington Post, Best Books of 2009, December 2009
- ^ Book review: Echoes Upon Echoes, UCLA International Institute
- ^ F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Short Story Contest Archived 2010-06-07 at the Wayback Machine, City of Rockville, Maryland
- ^ Kim, Eugenia (2018). The Kinship of Secrets. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 304. ISBN 978-1328987822. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
- ^ Embassy of the United States, Seoul, Korea, May 1, 2010 photo gallery Archived February 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ University, Fairfield. "Creative Writing Faculty". Fairfield University. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
- ^ "The New American Voices Award". Institute for Immigration Research. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
External links
edit- Eugenia Kim website
- The Calligrapher's Daughter website
- The Washington Post, "A Woman of Consequence in a Time of War," book review, August 26, 2009
- The Christian Science Monitor, Book Reviews, August 21, 2009
- National Geographic Traveler, "Great Books, Great Journeys/New Book Roundups," August 2009
- Editor's Choice by The Denver Post, 08/02/2009
- Featured Book of Color Pick of the Day, Media Bistro/GalleyCat, August 4, 2009
- More.com, "At 57, A First Novel with Legs," Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine August 2009
- More.com, "The Real Family behind 'The Calligrapher's Daughter'" Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
- Red Room.com "Rising Star," August 2009
- Examiner.com/Washington DC, "Exquisite new novel tells of two daring women in early 20th century Korea," August 19, 2009
- San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate, Grabbers – first sentences from new books, August 23, 2009
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Kim traces courage in 'Calligrapher' Korean passage," August 29, 2009
- Bennington College News, "Eugenia Kim MFA '01 Garners Rave Reviews for Debut Novel"
- Washingtonian (magazine), "Washington Read," August 2009
- Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, BookDragon, Review, September 25, 2009
- The Washington Times, Book review, November 15, 2009
- About.com, Book review, January 3, 2010
- The Independent (UK), Book Review, February 14, 2010
- The Washington Post, "New paperbacks about living off the land," June 30, 2010
- World (magazine), "Summer Reading, 2010 Books Issue," July 3, 2010
- The Washington Times, Communities, Book Review, March 28, 2011