How a budding Italian-American author trying to get a literary agent pretended to be a Korean writer called 'Kim Chi' - sparking comparisons to hit thriller Yellowface by R. F. Kuang Kim Crisci, who is Italian-American, has since apologized for her 'deceit' READ MORE: Ominous warning from author behind 'real life Yellowface' By Elmira Tanatarova Published: 10:23 EDT, 24 June 2024 | Updated: 10:23 EDT, 24 June 2024 e-mail View comments An Italian-American author who pretended to be a Korean writer called Kim Chi is at the centre of the latest literary scandal - which has sparked comparisons to hit thriller Yellowface, in which a white woman steals an Asian novelist's transcript and passes it off as her own.
Kim Crisci, who misled readers about her heritage, has since apologised for 'deceiving people with false implications' and 'breaking all sense of decency' - before 'removing herself from the writing community'. The furore was uncovered by fellow author Lanchi Le, who was in a Discord server with Kim - after becoming suspicious following comments she made about Vietnamese culture. Lanchi collated the evidence in a thread on X , which they have since deleted - but the drama was recounted by Youtuber @withcindy in a video last week.
Alarm bells for Lanchi first rang in April, when they shared an excerpt from a work in progress, which featured a Vietnamese character on the receiving end of an ignorant comment. Kim Crisci (pictured), who misled readers about her heritage, has si.