Jane Jeong Trenka is a Korean American activist and an award-winning writer. She is the president of the organization TRACK (Truth and Reconciliation for the Adoption Community of Korea).

Early life

Trenka was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in 1972. When she was six months old, Trenka and her sister were adopted into a white family in rural northern

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Her Korean mother found her daughters in 1972, shortly after the girls were sent to the U.S. and before they were legally adopted. Trenka reunited with her birth mother in

in 1995 when she was 23. In 2004, she returned to live in Korea. While applying for a visa in 2006, Trenka discovered that the Korean adoption agency that had overseen her adoption had lied, both about her background and about the people who were going to adopt her. Trenka became an activist for standard and transparent adoption practices to protect the human rights of adult adoptees, children, and families. She officially repatriated to South Korea in 2008.

Career and education

Trenka received a degree in music performance from

Augsburg University Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and became a piano teacher in Minnesota before her return to Korea. While studying at Augsburg University, Trenka was consistently stalked, and she has spoken publicly about her experience in order to raise awareness to the issue, including discussing the incident in her book ''The Language of Blood''. Her experiences were adapted for an episode of the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Ameri ...

series '' Obsession: Dark Desires''. In 2013, Trenka attended

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

to pursue a degree in public administration. She has written two memoirs on her experiences with international, transracial adoption: ''The Language of Blood'' and ''Fugitive Visions: An Adoptee's Return to Korea''.

Works

*The Language of Blood, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2003; Graywolf Press, 2005 *피의 언어, Y-Gelli Press 2005; Domabaem 2012 * Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption,

South End Press South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, Juliet Schor, among others, in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activi ...

, 2006 * 인종간 입양의 사회학, KoRoot Press, 2012 * Fugitive Visions: An Adoptee's Return to Korea, Graywolf Press, 2009 * 덧없는 환영들, Changbi Publishers
2012
ref> Kyobo Books: 덧없는 환영들

Awards

* Minnesota Book Award for Autobiography/Memoir for The Language of Blood * Minnesota Book Award for New Voice for The Language of Blood * Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection for The Language of Blood

References

External links