Aloha! Time for Tuesday books! E.J. Koh’s The Magical Language of Others! Koh’s memoir will resonate for those caught between time and place, who seek an understanding between generations, and who look to words for answers. This book exposes the realities of economic global work, Confucian expectations translated into modern lives, and the brutality of people living out their ambitions. It paints a poignant and raw picture of how we try to manifest a certain life. I believe that had I read this at a different time in my life I would have come to different conclusions, but I think that is what makes this a good book—this is one you will reread.

On a personal note, the book made me think about the life of my Korean cousin from Seoul. He’s back in Korea and spent years in the US as a parachute kid. My uncle was a cultural envoy and was called back. He took his youngest son and left his older one to live on his own at the age of 13 in New York. The belief in education and the excruciating conformity and misery that the Korean education system imposes on its young results in serious family disruption. Yet too, the chase for status, for acceptance, for money, a very real attempt to carve out a place and declare one’s existence in this life, is all too human.

This is a book for all, but what I think is important is that this book can cross various populations and age groups, and I would place it both on a university and secondary level reading list. I don’t say that about many books. We watch two women come of age or to an understanding—the narrator and her mother. There’s a raw pathos here—what is it we want family to be? How do we love and speak to each other? What does it mean to let go? How do we live in memory? Beautiful, sorrowful and meaningful questions we all must answer.

So excited to have EJ Koh visit Women’s Creative Writing Workshop on 10/3! Her growing body of work speaks to the global questions raised by those in the Korean diaspora, and I believe that her serious endeavors to bridge the literary questions raised by those in Korea, as well as those in the United States, mark her as one who will lead Korean American writing forward in the 21st century. Global. Woman. Poet. Writer. Translator. Editor. Read her now.

Write your story. Register at drstephaniehan.com
~teaching women the power of narrative~

In the Company of Strangers is a fine collection of short fiction. I’m highlighting it because I believe it to be strangely overlooked — and it shouldn’t be. Writing from the Overseas Filipino diaspora is complex and diverse. It speaks to the wildly disparate realities of a people who continue to carve out a place in the global consciousness and imagination. Skinner tells stories about a range of characters and time periods, and she does this with humor and accuracy. Her details speak to a writer who carefully researches and who has mastery of her subject matter. I also enjoy the style mash-up. It’s fun. She’s the real thing and offers no easy answers.

I taught this book to my grade 10 class at Punahou and the students the stories sparked discussions: colonialism, gender, isolation, exploitation, Asian American identity, families, migrant labor, geography, community — there’s a lot to unpack in this slender volume of stories.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM DR. HAN: Short stories are excellent to teach to young readers because many students have a serious problem getting through a 300 page novel. Dear Teachers: we must reckon with this. Now, now…pick yourself up! No, you do not have to sob uncontrollably in front of your personal library of beloved dogeared books that were highlighted when you were a young cub… it will be fine… Reframe. Pick material that can serve as a Gateway Read. Reading as experimentation and rebellion. Skinner’s book is not a YA book AT ALL, but it’s a great Gateway Read to books that are longer.

The We-Came-To-America-And-The-Story-Ends-Great-Our-Son-Went-To-Harvard-We-Made-It trajectory isn’t a part of this book and guess what: THAT IS A BIG PLUS. I acknowledge that this Beloved and Holy Immigrant Narrative is important, but it’s not the only story. This book shows us the other stories and highlights the nuance of life. Have a read.

For more information on classes and workshops go to my classes page.