Eugenia Kim (born 1952) is a

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian Americans ...

writer and novelist who lives in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. 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.

Works

Kim's debut novel, ''The Calligrapher's Daughter,'' won the 2009 Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction, and was shortlisted for the 2010

Dayton Literary Peace Prize The Dayton Literary Peace Prize is an annual United States literary award "recognizing the power of the written word to promote peace" that was first awarded in 2006. Awards are given for adult fiction and non-fiction books published at some point ...

. ''The Calligrapher's Daughter'' received a

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

(PW) starred review among other advance reviews. It was also published by

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

(UK), in January 2010, and has been translated and published in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. 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 An internal link is a type of hyperlink on a web page to another page or resource, such as an image or document, on the same website or domain. Hyperlinks are considered either "external" or "internal" depending on their target or destination ...

), ''The Calligrapher's Daughter'' was named Critic's Pick and a Best Book of 2009 by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', 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,'' edited by

Elaine H. Kim Elaine H. Kim is an American writer, editor and professor emerita in Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Kim retired from teaching in 2015. Her academic interests and research areas included Asia ...

and Laura Hyun Yi. Kang. Her short story, "Orientation," was first runner-up in the 2001 F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Contest. Kim's second novel, ''The Kinship of Secrets'', was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in November 2018.

Biography

The daughter of

Korean immigrant The Korean diaspora (South Korea: or , North Korea: or ) consists of around 7.3 million people, both descendants of early emigrants from the Korean Peninsula, as well as more recent emigres from Korea. Around 84.5% of overseas Koreans live in ...

parents who came to America shortly after the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, Kim was born in

White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , su ...

and raised in

Takoma Park, Maryland Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Washington, D.C., Washington, and part of the Washington metropolitan area. Founded in 1883 and incorporated in 1890, Takoma Park, informally called "Azalea C ...

. She attended Central Connecticut State University (then College), and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, from which she received a BA in Studio Art. Following a long career in

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

, 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,

, and at Sookmyung Women's University Library as part of an exhibition, "A Glimpse into the World of Korean American Literature." She has presented at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Asian American Association, the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

, and elsewhere. She teaches fiction at

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

's MFA Creative Writing Program.

Awards

2009 Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction
Shortlisted,

, 2010
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Fellow,

Millay Colony for the Arts Millay Arts, formerly the Millay Colony for the Arts, is an arts community offering residency-retreats and workshops in Austerlitz, New York, and free arts programs in local public schools. Housed on the former property of feminist/activist poet ...

Eli Cantor Fellow,

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

Fellow, Hedgebrook
Stanford Calderwood Fellow, The MacDowell Colony
Fellow,

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) is a residential artist community in Amherst, Virginia, USA. Since 1971, VCCA has offered residencies of varying lengths with flexible scheduling for international artists, writers, and composers at ...

References

External links

''Eugenia Kim'' website

''The Calligrapher's Daughter'' website
*

"A Woman of Consequence in a Time of War,"
book review, August 26, 2009 * ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

''
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,"
August 2009 * More.com
"The Real Family behind 'The Calligrapher's Daughter'"

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 The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

SFGate, Grabbers – first sentences from new books
August 23, 2009 *

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

"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) ''Washingtonian'' is a monthly magazine distributed in the Washington, D.C. area. It was founded in 1965 by Laughlin Phillips and Robert J. Myers. The magazine describes itself as "The Magazine Washington Lives By". The magazine's core focuses are ...

"Washington Read,"
August 2009 * Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, BookDragon
Review
September 25, 2009 *

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

Book review
November 15, 2009 * About.com
Book review
January 3, 2010 *

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

(UK)
Book Review
February 14, 2010 *

"New paperbacks about living off the land,"
June 30, 2010 * World (magazine)
"Summer Reading, 2010 Books Issue,"
July 3, 2010 *

, Communities
Book Review
March 28, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Eugenia American women novelists American writers of Korean descent Bennington College alumni Fairfield University faculty Living people 1952 births Writers from Washington, D.C. 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Connecticut American women academics