Nora Okja Keller (born 22 December 1966, in Seoul, South Korea) is a Korean American author. Her 1997 breakthrough work of fiction, ''Comfort Woman'', and her second book (2002), ''Fox Girl'', focus on multigenerational trauma resulting from Korean women's experiences as

sex slave Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a s ...

s, euphemistically called

comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...

, for Japanese and American troops during World War II and the ongoing Korean War.

Critical acclaim

Keller’s first novel was highly praised by critics, including Michiko Kakutani in '' The New York Times'', who said that in ''Comfort Woman'', "Keller has written a powerful book about mothers and daughters and the passions that bind generations." Kakutani called it "a lyrical and haunting novel" and "an impressive debut." ''Comfort Woman'' won the American Book Award in 1998 and the 1999 Elliot Cades Award; previously, in 1995, Keller won the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

for a short story, "Mother-Tongue", which became the second chapter of ''Comfort Woman''. In 2003, she won the Hawai'i Award for Literature.

Professional background

Keller is a graduate of the

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

in Honolulu. She received her B.A. from the University of Hawaii with a double major in psychology and English and worked in Honolulu as a freelance writer, including at the newspaper ''

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honolulu Advertiser''). ...

''. She earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of California at Santa Cruz. She now works as an English teacher at Punahou School.

Personal background and ethnicity

Keller was raised primarily by her Korean mother, Tae Im Beane, in Hawaii and identifies her ethnicity as Korean American. Her father, Robert Cobb, however, was a German computer engineer. She has lived in Hawaii from the age of three. Married since 1990 to James Keller, she has two daughters, Tae and Sunhi Keller. Her daughter,

Tae Keller Tae Keller is an American children's book author. Her book, '' When You Trap a Tiger'', won the 2021 Newbery Medal. The book tells the story of Lily and her relationship with her aging and ill Korean grandmother, wrapped around the Korean folkta ...

, received the 2021 Newbery Medal from the American Library Association for her young adult book ''

When You Trap a Tiger ''When You Trap a Tiger ''is a 2020 children's book by Tae Keller. The novel tells the story of a biracial girl, Lily, who learns about her heritage when her family moves in with Lily's grandmother, that is Korean. The book was well received an ...

''.

Influences on her work

Keller says she first heard of the term "Asian American" when she took a course in Asian American literature, the first course in this topic offered by the University of Hawaii. The syllabus included

Maxine Hong Kingston Maxine Hong Kingston (; born Maxine Ting Ting Hong;Huntley, E. D. (2001). ''Maxine Hong Kingston: A Critical Companion'', p. 1. October 27, 1940) is an American novelist. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, wher ...

Jade Snow Wong Jade Snow Wong () (January 21, 1922 – March 16, 2006) was a Chinese American ceramic artist and author of two memoirs. She was given the English name of Constance, also being known as Connie Wong Ong. Early life Wong was born on January 2 ...

, and Joy Kogawa. The genesis of ''Comfort Woman'' dated to a 1993 human rights symposium at the University of Hawaii where Keller heard a presentation by Keum Ja Hwang, who had been a

comfort woman Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ian ...

. "Her experience was so extraordinary," Keller has said, "I thought someone should write about it." Keller’s novels explore her own complex ethnic identity in the context of Hawaii’s multi-ethnic society and her relationship with her mother (upon whom "some details" of characters in her fiction are based).

Other writing

*''Fox Girl'' *''Yobo : Korean American Writing in Hawai'i'', edited by Keller, Honolulu, HI : Bamboo Ridge Press, 2003 *''Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry and Prose'', edited by Keller & Marie Hara, Bamboo Ridge Press, 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Nora Okja 1966 births Living people Punahou School alumni South Korean emigrants to the United States University of California, Santa Cruz alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni American women writers Writers from Hawaii American Book Award winners 21st-century American women