Q: Can you highlight a portion of your book that describes your characters? A: In “Exhibit,” the narrator becomes obsessed with an injured principal ballerina, Lidija Jung – first professionally, then personally – and they begin an intense relationship that involves helping each other explore core physical desires. At some point, Lidija says that because she’s injured, she has more time than she’s ever had, some of which she can spend with Jin. But they’re both artists utterly devoted to their work.
If Lidija weren’t injured ...
she’d want to stick to her own ballet-focused schedule, one that doesn’t leave a lot of time for other activities. Q: When I return home from South Korea, I am filled with the kind of grief that can't be explained away with, "Oh, I wish I was still on vacation." You were three years old when you immigrated to the United States.
Do you have any core memories of Korea from that time? I still remember my grandfather’s apple orchard and the feeling of being there with my family. A: Oh, that apple orchard memory sounds so beautiful. I have just one flash of a memory of fighting my cousin.
But what you’re saying about the grief of leaving Korea resonates with me. I’ve thought at times about the fact that I was born to people who, for many generations, lived on just that one strip of land – Korea. When I’m in Korea, it feels as though my body recalls the soil I’m made of, attending to a song in the wind, rain and foliage that .
