Online interview with MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE,
author of SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER: A NOVEL
[This interview was conducted in August 2005 via email. Dan Bloom is an editor and freelance reporter based in Taiwan. Marie Myung-Ok Lee is a novelist and short story writer living in Providence, Rhode Island.]
DAN BLOOM: You began writing ''Somebody's Daughter'' in 1993 and then you went to South Korea in 1998 on a fellowship, with the book finally being published in 2005 -- April 2005. Why did it take so long to create this novel, and what was the genesis of the book? How did it begin, as a short story or what?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: To answer both questions at once: First, I wrote a short story about Sarah. It basically just flowedout of me, and I also sold it right away, somethingthat never happens to me. I wrote a few more storieswith this same character and oddly enough those sold just as quickly, including one that was an honorable mention for the O. Henry prize. So then I saw it wasn't just me interested in this character -- lots of other people responded to her anger, her energy, her"wry honesty" as the reviewer in PEOPLE Magazine noted.
But even after I had a few hundred pages ofinterconnecting short stories (a style that was alsoquite the rage then), I felt it never gelled as astory collection. I tried rewriting it as a novel,but it also felt like something was missing. Finally,I figured out there was this tiny voice out therestruggling to be heard: Sarah's birth-mother.Of course, very little is known of the situation ofKorean birth-mothers, as unwed motherhood is extremelyshameful. I was at two amazing universities with thebest libraries: Yale and Brown, and I couldn't findany primary sources on Korean birth-mothers.
So I slowly and reluctantly came to the conclusion I'd have to go to South Korea, find some birth-mothers, and interview them.
However, in the end, everything fell into place.The story of how I went about actually finding the birthmothers islong, torturous and convuluted, and I won't get intoit here except to say I had the honor of talking tosome amazingly brave women who basically opened their hearts and let me take a look at their deepest selves. They felt that in order for me to write an accuratestory, I would need to know everything, good and bad.
The stereotypes of birthmothers is that they are uncaring, irresponsible, loose, etc., and these women hoped to counter that with a character who is not a saint, but who is real, and I felt I really received a novelist's gift by learning all these amazing and unexpected details.So once back home, it was fairly easy for me to write the second "half" of the novel with the birthmother's voice.
But after the entire novel was completed (and my literary agent loved it), I ended up deciding to rewrite thewhole thing and erase every single detail I'd gleaned from the interviews (yes, I must say, very regretfully!) because I was worried that if the book as translated into Korean, I might unwittingly expose some of these women.So add on another year or two to find a good publisher in New York, another year to publish it, and that's why it took so long!
DAN BLOOM: Who is your agent?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm represented by Charlotte Sheedy. She liked thenovel so much that she uses it as a "test" for prospectiveassistants. She's wonderful. The hardback came out in April 2005 and there will be a paperback edition in April 2006, too. So the book has done well. We've also had a few inquiries for movie rights, options, from Hollywood people.
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm so happy it's out. Also, I promised thebirthmothers that I'd try to get the word out to as manyKorean adoptees as possible, because the birthmothersfervently hoped their children might one day readthe book and understand their situation a bitbetter...and to know that they are loved and missed.DAN BLOOM: Your agent has sold translation rights to Turkey. Did anyother countriespick up foreign rights yet? South Korea, for example, or Japan orChina or Taiwan?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Oddly enough, given the theme, we\'ve had noinquries yet from any Asian countries . My earlier children\'s book(also about an adoptee) was picked up by Seo JeeWon publishing in South Korea, but for this novel, nothing yet.
DAN BLOOM: What is your next book going to be about interms of theme?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: The great Korean-American novel.
DAN BLOOM: You are a Korean-American writer, and many ofyour books so far havebeen bout Koreans . Do you envision writing booksin the future thatmight not even have a Korean character or aKorean-American theme, butcreating characters outside this enthnic subset?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I\'ve written a bunch of short stories about white guyshaving midlife crises. I don\'t know why.
DAN BLOOM: Your husband is a professor of history atBrown and you areteaching at Brown too; and you both graduteadfrom Brown asundergraduates. How does it feel to be back atyour home campus, so to speak,with memories of those years, ages 18-22?What\'s changed at Brownsince you were an undergrad?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Actually, a lot of the same people are here. Afterbeing somewhat itinerant the past few years (New York,",1]
);
//-->
DAN BLOOM: Now that the book is out and you've done aseries of readings in New England andinterviews with print and online media, and the reviews are outnationwide, how do you feel?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm so happy it's out. Also, I promised thebirthmothers that I'd try to get the word out to as manyKorean adoptees as possible, because the birthmothersfervently hoped their children might one day readthe book and understand their situation a bitbetter...and to know that they are loved and missed.
DAN BLOOM: Your agent has sold translation rights to Turkey. Did anyother countriespick up foreign rights yet? South Korea, for example, or Japan orChina or Taiwan?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Oddly enough, given the theme, we've had noinquries yet from any Asian countries . My earlier children's book(also about an adoptee) was picked up by Seo JeeWon publishing in South Korea, but for this novel, nothing yet.
DAN BLOOM: What is your next book going to be about interms of theme?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: The great Korean-American novel.DAN BLOOM: You are a Korean-American writer, and many ofyour books so far havebeen bout Koreans . Do you envision writing booksin the future thatmight not even have a Korean character or aKorean-American theme, butcreating characters outside this enthnic subset?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I've written a bunch of short stories about white guyshaving midlife crises. I don't know why.DAN BLOOM: Your husband is a professor of history atBrown and you areteaching at Brown too; and you both graduteadfrom Brown asundergraduates. How does it feel to be back atyour home campus, so to speak,with memories of those years, ages 18-22?What's changed at Brownsince you were an undergrad?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Actually, a lot of the same people are here. Afterbeing somewhat itinerant the past few years (New York,
that\'s familiar.DAN BLOOM: Any chance of a reporter doing a profile of youin the NEW YORK TIMES soon, or aprofile on CNN or the BBC or NPR? What kind of PR workare you doing toadvance your book\'s path in the book industry andto promote your owncareer?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I\'m going to be on KQED\'s "Pacific Time," which is theNPR station that serves that San Francisco Bay Area. If the New YorkTimes or CNN or BBC wants to know more, I\'d behappy to talk to them!DAN BLOOM: You were born and grew up in Hibbing Minnesota,Bob Dylan\'s hometown.Does the media make a big deal of this, or is itjust a fun fact. Haveyou ever met Bob or attended any of his concerts?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I\'m a big Dylan fan, and it\'s mostly a fun fact inconversation.DAN BLOOM: You co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop [AAWW]in 1991 with a bunch ofother writers:Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Bino Realuyo,and Barbara Tran.Can you tell me a little about these writers,what they\'ve written orwhat they are working on at present, and how theorganization operates and what it does?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Curtis Chin is currently writing in Hollywood andworking on ananimation project; Christina Chiu is working on her nextnovel; Bino Realuyo just won a big poetry prize and is stillwriting fiction; and Barbara Tran\'s poetry is doing reallywell, and I think she\'s edging into prose as well. Allof us are officially "out" of the AAWW as theorganization has grown and matured, and this is partof the maturation process, but we\'re all very proudof it, and I made sure to have my New York book party there.http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807083887/002-5281460-2450444?v=glanceBeacon Press, Boston288 pages",0]
);
//-->
South Korea, Ohio) it feels great to be back in a placethat's familiar.
DAN BLOOM: Any chance of a reporter doing a profile of youin the NEW YORK TIMES soon, or aprofile on CNN or the BBC or NPR? What kind of PR workare you doing toadvance your book's path in the book industry andto promote your owncareer?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm going to be on KQED's "Pacific Time," which is theNPR station that serves that San Francisco Bay Area. If the New YorkTimes or CNN or BBC wants to know more, I'd behappy to talk to them!
DAN BLOOM: You were born and grew up in Hibbing Minnesota,Bob Dylan's hometown. Does the media make a big deal of this, or is it just a fun fact. Haveyou ever met Bob or attended any of his concerts?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm a big Dylan fan, and it's mostly a fun fact in conversation.
DAN BLOOM: You co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop [AAWW]in 1991 with a bunch ofother writers:Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Bino Realuyo,and Barbara Tran. Can you tell me a little about these writers, what they've written or what they are working on at present, and how the organization operates and what it does?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Curtis Chin is currently writing in Hollywood andworking on ananimation project; Christina Chiu is working on her nextnovel; Bino Realuyo just won a big poetry prize and is stillwriting fiction; and Barbara Tran's poetry is doing really well, and I think she's edging into prose as well. All of us are officially "out" of the AAWW as the organization has grown and matured, and this is part of the maturation process, but we're all very proud of it, and I made sure to have my New York book party there.
ORDER THE BOOK HERE:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807083887/002-5281460-2450444?v=glance
published in hardback by Beacon Press, Boston
288 pages
author of SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER: A NOVEL
[This interview was conducted in August 2005 via email. Dan Bloom is an editor and freelance reporter based in Taiwan. Marie Myung-Ok Lee is a novelist and short story writer living in Providence, Rhode Island.]
DAN BLOOM: You began writing ''Somebody's Daughter'' in 1993 and then you went to South Korea in 1998 on a fellowship, with the book finally being published in 2005 -- April 2005. Why did it take so long to create this novel, and what was the genesis of the book? How did it begin, as a short story or what?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: To answer both questions at once: First, I wrote a short story about Sarah. It basically just flowedout of me, and I also sold it right away, somethingthat never happens to me. I wrote a few more storieswith this same character and oddly enough those sold just as quickly, including one that was an honorable mention for the O. Henry prize. So then I saw it wasn't just me interested in this character -- lots of other people responded to her anger, her energy, her"wry honesty" as the reviewer in PEOPLE Magazine noted.
But even after I had a few hundred pages ofinterconnecting short stories (a style that was alsoquite the rage then), I felt it never gelled as astory collection. I tried rewriting it as a novel,but it also felt like something was missing. Finally,I figured out there was this tiny voice out therestruggling to be heard: Sarah's birth-mother.Of course, very little is known of the situation ofKorean birth-mothers, as unwed motherhood is extremelyshameful. I was at two amazing universities with thebest libraries: Yale and Brown, and I couldn't findany primary sources on Korean birth-mothers.
So I slowly and reluctantly came to the conclusion I'd have to go to South Korea, find some birth-mothers, and interview them.
However, in the end, everything fell into place.The story of how I went about actually finding the birthmothers islong, torturous and convuluted, and I won't get intoit here except to say I had the honor of talking tosome amazingly brave women who basically opened their hearts and let me take a look at their deepest selves. They felt that in order for me to write an accuratestory, I would need to know everything, good and bad.
The stereotypes of birthmothers is that they are uncaring, irresponsible, loose, etc., and these women hoped to counter that with a character who is not a saint, but who is real, and I felt I really received a novelist's gift by learning all these amazing and unexpected details.So once back home, it was fairly easy for me to write the second "half" of the novel with the birthmother's voice.
But after the entire novel was completed (and my literary agent loved it), I ended up deciding to rewrite thewhole thing and erase every single detail I'd gleaned from the interviews (yes, I must say, very regretfully!) because I was worried that if the book as translated into Korean, I might unwittingly expose some of these women.So add on another year or two to find a good publisher in New York, another year to publish it, and that's why it took so long!
DAN BLOOM: Who is your agent?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm represented by Charlotte Sheedy. She liked thenovel so much that she uses it as a "test" for prospectiveassistants. She's wonderful. The hardback came out in April 2005 and there will be a paperback edition in April 2006, too. So the book has done well. We've also had a few inquiries for movie rights, options, from Hollywood people.
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm so happy it's out. Also, I promised thebirthmothers that I'd try to get the word out to as manyKorean adoptees as possible, because the birthmothersfervently hoped their children might one day readthe book and understand their situation a bitbetter...and to know that they are loved and missed.DAN BLOOM: Your agent has sold translation rights to Turkey. Did anyother countriespick up foreign rights yet? South Korea, for example, or Japan orChina or Taiwan?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Oddly enough, given the theme, we\'ve had noinquries yet from any Asian countries . My earlier children\'s book(also about an adoptee) was picked up by Seo JeeWon publishing in South Korea, but for this novel, nothing yet.
DAN BLOOM: What is your next book going to be about interms of theme?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: The great Korean-American novel.
DAN BLOOM: You are a Korean-American writer, and many ofyour books so far havebeen bout Koreans . Do you envision writing booksin the future thatmight not even have a Korean character or aKorean-American theme, butcreating characters outside this enthnic subset?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I\'ve written a bunch of short stories about white guyshaving midlife crises. I don\'t know why.
DAN BLOOM: Your husband is a professor of history atBrown and you areteaching at Brown too; and you both graduteadfrom Brown asundergraduates. How does it feel to be back atyour home campus, so to speak,with memories of those years, ages 18-22?What\'s changed at Brownsince you were an undergrad?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Actually, a lot of the same people are here. Afterbeing somewhat itinerant the past few years (New York,",1]
);
//-->
DAN BLOOM: Now that the book is out and you've done aseries of readings in New England andinterviews with print and online media, and the reviews are outnationwide, how do you feel?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm so happy it's out. Also, I promised thebirthmothers that I'd try to get the word out to as manyKorean adoptees as possible, because the birthmothersfervently hoped their children might one day readthe book and understand their situation a bitbetter...and to know that they are loved and missed.
DAN BLOOM: Your agent has sold translation rights to Turkey. Did anyother countriespick up foreign rights yet? South Korea, for example, or Japan orChina or Taiwan?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Oddly enough, given the theme, we've had noinquries yet from any Asian countries . My earlier children's book(also about an adoptee) was picked up by Seo JeeWon publishing in South Korea, but for this novel, nothing yet.
DAN BLOOM: What is your next book going to be about interms of theme?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: The great Korean-American novel.DAN BLOOM: You are a Korean-American writer, and many ofyour books so far havebeen bout Koreans . Do you envision writing booksin the future thatmight not even have a Korean character or aKorean-American theme, butcreating characters outside this enthnic subset?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I've written a bunch of short stories about white guyshaving midlife crises. I don't know why.DAN BLOOM: Your husband is a professor of history atBrown and you areteaching at Brown too; and you both graduteadfrom Brown asundergraduates. How does it feel to be back atyour home campus, so to speak,with memories of those years, ages 18-22?What's changed at Brownsince you were an undergrad?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Actually, a lot of the same people are here. Afterbeing somewhat itinerant the past few years (New York,
that\'s familiar.DAN BLOOM: Any chance of a reporter doing a profile of youin the NEW YORK TIMES soon, or aprofile on CNN or the BBC or NPR? What kind of PR workare you doing toadvance your book\'s path in the book industry andto promote your owncareer?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I\'m going to be on KQED\'s "Pacific Time," which is theNPR station that serves that San Francisco Bay Area. If the New YorkTimes or CNN or BBC wants to know more, I\'d behappy to talk to them!DAN BLOOM: You were born and grew up in Hibbing Minnesota,Bob Dylan\'s hometown.Does the media make a big deal of this, or is itjust a fun fact. Haveyou ever met Bob or attended any of his concerts?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I\'m a big Dylan fan, and it\'s mostly a fun fact inconversation.DAN BLOOM: You co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop [AAWW]in 1991 with a bunch ofother writers:Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Bino Realuyo,and Barbara Tran.Can you tell me a little about these writers,what they\'ve written orwhat they are working on at present, and how theorganization operates and what it does?MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Curtis Chin is currently writing in Hollywood andworking on ananimation project; Christina Chiu is working on her nextnovel; Bino Realuyo just won a big poetry prize and is stillwriting fiction; and Barbara Tran\'s poetry is doing reallywell, and I think she\'s edging into prose as well. Allof us are officially "out" of the AAWW as theorganization has grown and matured, and this is partof the maturation process, but we\'re all very proudof it, and I made sure to have my New York book party there.http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807083887/002-5281460-2450444?v=glanceBeacon Press, Boston288 pages",0]
);
//-->
South Korea, Ohio) it feels great to be back in a placethat's familiar.
DAN BLOOM: Any chance of a reporter doing a profile of youin the NEW YORK TIMES soon, or aprofile on CNN or the BBC or NPR? What kind of PR workare you doing toadvance your book's path in the book industry andto promote your owncareer?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm going to be on KQED's "Pacific Time," which is theNPR station that serves that San Francisco Bay Area. If the New YorkTimes or CNN or BBC wants to know more, I'd behappy to talk to them!
DAN BLOOM: You were born and grew up in Hibbing Minnesota,Bob Dylan's hometown. Does the media make a big deal of this, or is it just a fun fact. Haveyou ever met Bob or attended any of his concerts?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: I'm a big Dylan fan, and it's mostly a fun fact in conversation.
DAN BLOOM: You co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop [AAWW]in 1991 with a bunch ofother writers:Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Bino Realuyo,and Barbara Tran. Can you tell me a little about these writers, what they've written or what they are working on at present, and how the organization operates and what it does?
MARIE MYUNG-OK LEE: Curtis Chin is currently writing in Hollywood andworking on ananimation project; Christina Chiu is working on her nextnovel; Bino Realuyo just won a big poetry prize and is stillwriting fiction; and Barbara Tran's poetry is doing really well, and I think she's edging into prose as well. All of us are officially "out" of the AAWW as the organization has grown and matured, and this is part of the maturation process, but we're all very proud of it, and I made sure to have my New York book party there.
ORDER THE BOOK HERE:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0807083887/002-5281460-2450444?v=glance
published in hardback by Beacon Press, Boston
288 pages
posted by dan at 10:00 PM
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