Memory and Distance: Bridges to Remembering and the Demon of Forgetfulness
Wednesday, October 30, 2024 6:30 PM EDT
The Arts Club, 2017 I St. NW, Washington
The Arts Club, in Washington DC, welcomes the Cheuse Center for our second annual Fall book talk featuring writers Jimin Han and Nicole Chung in conversation with Leeya Mehta, Director of the Cheuse Center. The evening will also mark the 8th year anniversary of the Cheuse Fellowship. The event is accompanied by a wine reception sponsored by the Cheuse Center.
The planned discussion and reading will begin at 7pm, followed by a book signing and reception at 8pm.
About Nicole Chung’s A Living Remedy, a memoir
A searing memoir of family, class, and grief, Nicole Chung’s A Living Remedy is a daughter’s search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she forged as an adult, and the lives she’s lost. Exploring the enduring strength of family bonds in the face of hardship and tragedy, Nicole Chung examines what it takes to reconcile the distance between one life, one home, and another—and sheds needed light on some of the most persistent and grievous inequalities in American society.
“A transcendent memoir about family, class, and the contours of loss.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A powerful social commentary that poses vital questions on access to medical care and the meaning of home and family.” —The Washington Post
“Like the best memoirs, Nicole Chung’s A Living Remedy is both an excavation of the self and the people who sustain it—but also, at its core, a work of art undergirded by a tender, forgiving, and awe-filled gaze at what it means to live and hurt in the human world. The result is a bone-deep enactment of love in all its valences.” —Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
About the author:
Nicole Chung’s A Living Remedy was named a Notable Book of 2023 by The New York Times and a Best Book of the Year by over a dozen outlets. Her 2018 debut All You Can Ever Know was a national bestseller and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Chung’s writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, and many other publications. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in the Washington, DC area.
About Jimin Han’s The Apology, a novel.
Part ghost story and part family epic, The Apology is an incisive tale of sisterhood and diaspora, reaching back to the days of Japanese colonialism and the Korean War, and told through the singular voice of a defiant, funny, and unforgettable centenarian.
Jeonga’s narration is sharp and witty and a touch sly as she describes her present, disembodied state—the in-between, purgatory-like space her consciousness now occupies—as well as the events that led to her death…This is an enthralling multigenerational tale of familial secrets, trauma and healing.”―The New York Times
“Han’s narrator is sly, funny, and flawed…[The Apology is] a satisfying tale with vivid relationships that will keep readers curious about this complex family shaped by war, loyalty, class-consciousness, and love.”―Booklist
“Jeonga Cha is a wholly original character…While such a plot could have been the stuff of tragedy, Han mines the material largely for its comic potential. Whether dead or alive, Jeonga is a larger-than-life character, stubborn, judgmental, always active…The Apology is an imaginative work that draws upon traditional Korean Buddhist beliefs about the afterlife to explore the long-term consequences of decisions made under the value system of a different era.”―Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“The Apology is an uncanny high wire act—arch, tender, mercurial. Jimin Han feels like Iris Murdoch’s heir here, even as this novel came from an artistry that is all her own. This is a story unlike any other of Korea and America, and of a mother’s love—majestic, a deathless avenger, shrewd and wild; an ajumma willing to do anything for her family, including defying death.”―Alexander Chee, author of How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
About the author:
Jimin Han is the author of The Apology, a Barnes and Noble Discover Pick; named a best audiobook of the year by Booklist, a best book of the summer by the LA Times, Vanity Fair, Shondaland, Apple Books and more. She is also the author of A Small Revolution. Born in Seoul, South Korea, she grew up in Providence, Rhode Island; Dayton, Ohio; and Jamestown, New York. Her work has been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts.
About Leeya Mehta:
Leeya Mehta is the Director of the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center where she convenes the Baldwin100 - a 13 month collaborative project bringing communities and individuals together to celebrate the centennial of James Baldwin. She is the author of "A story of the world before the fence". Her essays, fiction and poetry have been widely published.
The Cheuse Center's mission is to bring writers to America, send graduate student fellows abroad on travel scholarships, and host free programs across the capital region.
Event details:
Rsvp necessary.
Where: The Arts Club, located at 2017 I St. NW, Washington, DC 20006
When: Oct 30, 2024 at 6:30pm
Subscribe to our newsletter to get registration information.
