Current Summer Projects

July 23rd, 2008 by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs | Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Here’s a rundown of current projects in the works that should take me to the end of summer:

1. Poetry/visual art collaboration with Jane Jin Kaisen, Fulbright Fellow and visual artist, for an interdisciplinary project tentatively titled, “Before and After,” involving film, poetry, performance, and Korean puppetry. Shot all over North America and in Seoul, the project once completed will open in a gallery in Chelsea, New York. More details to come.

2. Completed chapbook that I’ve recently revised and retitled but which, in its previous incarnation, was a 2008 semifinalist for the Tupelo Snowbound Chapbook Contest. Congratulations to Stacey Waite (a fellow Pitt alum) for winning the contest!

3. Research trip as part of Nodutdol’s Korea Exposure & Education Program (KEEP). I’m blessed by the KEEP 2008 Planning Team’s generosities, especially for their preparation of the hakseup. This research trip will facilitate further develop of a collection of creative nonfiction essays that I’m presently writing.

Author Interview in Galatea Resurrects

July 23rd, 2008 by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs | Posted in Blog | No Comments »

I’m grateful to Thomas Fink for interviewing me in Galatea Resurrects #10 (a poetic engagement) about Paper Pavilion and to Eileen Tabios for editing such a wonderful online critical experience!

Poems in The Korea Daily/Joong Ang Ilbo

June 29th, 2008 by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs | Posted in Blog | No Comments »

My gratitude to Sukie Park, journalist, at The Korea Daily/Joong Ang Ilbo for translating a poem into Korean from Paper Pavilion and for our author interview, which were both published in the July 2, 2008 issue! Thanks!!

Nodutdol Reading at AAWW

June 28th, 2008 by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs | Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Many thanks to Ken Chen, director of the Asian American Writers Workshop, for hosting and Nodutdol for sponsoring a reading of memoir and poetry with Lee Herrick (author of This Many Miles from Desire), Kim Sunee (author of Trail of Crumbs), and me on July 1, 2008 in New York City! Since I will be moving soon to the Twin Cities, I’m going to miss origami cranes, Woorijip next door, and all the wonderful folks at AAWW and Nodutdol! (Left to right: Lee Herrick, Kim Sunee, me, and Sukjong Hong who is the 2008 KEEP coordinator.)

Essay in KoreAM Magazine

June 23rd, 2008 by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs | Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Thanks to KoreAM Journal for publishing my essay, “My Three Fathers,” as part of its June 2008 issue and to Michelle Woo for her support! Here is a brief excerpt:

“[His hands are] callused from his job in the steel mill furnace, operating the strand carrying beams to the cooling unit. Coming home, he would sit in his blue recliner, open the tobacco can, pack the pipe, and suck the flame until the cherry glowed. Watching my father smoke, I could see small cuts on his arms, the grafted skin on his left ankle that wrapped around his entire leg, and to me, his body proved that only love worked this hard.”

IWP: New Symposium in Paros, Greece

June 13th, 2008 by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs | Posted in Blog | No Comments »

The International Writing Program’s New Symposium in Paros, Greece ended on May 21, and I find myself still processing my experiences from the tour of the ancient Greek marble quarry to the powerful discussions about Home/Land that were held inside the House of Literature. The fellowship of all the writers, their friendship and kindness, especially during the final days of the symposium during which I suffered from a nasty bout of the flu, made me feel at home.

My essay, “Home as the Direction of Search,” led to a conversation about home as syntax, rather than icon (or image) that has love at stake, yet finding this language would not have occurred without all of the writers’ insights. The words that we found were discovered together — collaboratively, and so it was difficult to leave the home that we had made possible for one another. I am still re-entering this home even though I am at home in New York City, and I am grateful to Christopher Merrill, who directs the International Writing Program, and to Natasa and Kelly for laying its foundation.

Author Interview in Korean Quarterly

May 23rd, 2008 by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs | Posted in Blog | No Comments »

I had the pleasure of a long conversation with Amanda Meeker, a columnist at the Korean Quarterly, about writing Paper Pavilion. Many thanks to Amanda and KQ! The author interview appears in the Spring 2008 issue and is a generous 2-page spread that covers a variety of topics from history to a poetics of displacement.