Join us in celebrating the launch of Tanya Ko Hong’s new book, The War Still Within: Poems of the Korean Diaspora. Dedicated to “all the women everywhere who have lost their names,” this book honors the courage of women to speak their truth and acknowledges the suffering of those who never could.
Part historical imagining of Japan’s so-called “comfort women” during WWII, part personal claiming of her own experiences with immigration and motherhood, and part exploration of identity across two languages, The War Still Within weaves together two cultures and gives voice to generations of Korean and Korean-American women. Ellen Bass remarks that these “spare, elegant poems” will “break our hearts with the truth and astonish us with compassion.”
Come out for a Sunday afternoon of poetry and community to celebrate this momentous occasion! Enjoy some light refreshments of Korean sushi and dumplings (gimbap and mandu) with wine, alongside some delectable poetry.
We’ll be welcoming a stellar line up of guest readers to read some poems alongside the author:
Alexis Rhone Fancher
Alyssa Matuchniak
Cassandra Lane
Conney Williams
Hack Hee Kang
Jamie Asaye FitzGerald
Jun C. Kim
Program:
4:00-4:30 | Refreshments
4:30-5:30 | Poetry Reading
5:30-6:00 | Author Signing
About the Author:
Tanya (Hyonhye) Ko Hong is a poet, translator, and cultural curator who champions bilingual poetry and poets. Born and raised in South Korea, she immigrated to the US at the age of eighteen. She is the author of four books, most recently The War Still Within: Poems of the Korean Diaspora (KYSO Flash Press, 2019), and is the recipient of the Yun Doon-ju Korean-American Literature Award. Tanya has an MFA from Antioch University and is a Ph.D. student in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She lives in southern California with her husband and three children.