E.J. Koh () is an American poet, author and translator of Korean literature whose memoir ''The Magical Language of Others'' was released by

Tin House Books ''Tin House'' is an American book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer of 1998. He enlisted Holly MacArt ...

in 2020 and received the 202
Washington State Book Award
for Biography/Memoir and the 2021 Pacific Northwest Book Award. Her poetry collection ''A Lesser Love'' was published by

LSU Press The Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press) is a university press at Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, it publishes works of scholarship as well as general interest books. LSU Press is a member of the Association of American Univer ...

in 2017 won the Pleiades Press Editors Prize. Koh is the recipient of The Virginia Faulkner Award and fellowships from the American Literary Translators Association, Jack Straw Writers Program,

Kundiman (nonprofit organization) Kundiman is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature. The organization offers an annual writing retreat, readings, workshops, a mentorship program, and a poetry prize, and ai ...

, MacDowell Colony, Napa Valley Writers' Conference, and Vermont Studio Center.

Early life and education

Koh was born in 1988 in San Jose, California. Koh earned her MFA at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. She is completing her PhD at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in English Language and Literature.

Career

Her memoir, ''The Magical Language of Others'', published in 2020, weaves the stories of four generations of women in Koh's family. Interspersed with letters exchanged between mother and daughter, the text illustrates how language ties them together.

Bibliography

* ''The Magical Language of Others'', New York : Tin House, 2020. * ''A Lesser Love'': LSU Press, 2017.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koh, E. J. 21st-century American women writers 1988 births Living people