Acclaimed novelist Crystal Hana Kim brought her powerful stories of love, loss and Korean history to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures hosted her as the featured speaker in the Hee Kyung Lee Kwon Speaker Series.
About 60 students and faculty gathered on September 18, for the event at the Center for Korean Studies, where Kim read from her two novels, shared her research process, and spoke about writing between two cultures and languages. She also reflected on her interest in Korean history and her experiences as a Korean American author.
“I’m deeply honored to have been selected as the second Hee Kyung Lee Kwon Speaker. Hee Kyung Lee Kwon’s life story inspires and resonates with my lineage,” said Kim. “To arrive here as a picture bride hoping for a greater education, to build a life in a new country and contribute to the Independence Movement of Korea—what an admirable, formidable figure.”
Award-winning author
During her visit to UH Mānoa, a crew from the Korean Broadcasting System filmed her lecture for a documentary on the Korean diaspora that will air in November in South Korea.
Kim authored The Stone Home, a finalist for the Maya Angelou Book Prize, and If You Leave Me, which was named a best book of the year by more than a dozen publications. She received the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award and the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers.
Honoring lineage
On campus, Kim included time with graduate students in Assistant Professor David Krolikoski’s Korean literature seminar, where she spoke about translation, craft and her inspirations.
“It has been comforting to be in an academic space where my culture is so deeply valued,” said Kim. “On a personal level, when my father immigrated to the United States, he first landed in Hawaiʻi. To finally visit this land while pregnant holds much meaning to me as I think of the history and lineage of the Korean diaspora.”
Campus partners
The Hee Kyung Lee Kwon Speaker Series is co-sponsored by UH Mānoa’s Center for Korean Studies, Department of English, Creative Writing Program, and Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
