Peter Kim
Introduction
Peter Kim is an award-winning author and playwright whose works span several genres. He is the author of four novels, three short story collections, and one play. His works explore the struggles of race and class in America, as well as fantasy worlds that transport readers to other realms. Kim has won several awards including the 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the 2008 Best Books of the Year Award from the American Library Association. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and young daughter.
About Peter Kim
Peter Kim was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. He studied philosophy and history at Cornell University, where he graduated in 1998. After college, he worked as a night editor at MIT's Technology Review. He then enrolled in the MFA program at the University of California, Irvine, where he was a fiction student in the International Writers Program. He has been a faculty member at the University of San Francisco, teaching courses in critical theory and fiction writing.
Books
His first novel, The Calligrapher's Daughter (2008), is an epic tale set in the early 1900s that follows a Korean-American woman as she struggles to survive and navigate her society's boundaries. Kim has written three other novels: The Language of Blood (2010), which deals with the grief and pain of a father and his gay son; I'd Know You Anywhere, My Love (2012), a family-centered story set in Korean-American communities; and The Robot Scientist's Daughter (2013), a science fiction mystery set in a future world. Kim has also written several short story collections, including Eternal Heart (2008), We Are All Fully Free (2010), and Traveler (2012). His play, Handel's Lunchbox (2018), follows the story of a homeless Ethiopian-Jewish musician in New York City.
Acclaim
Kim's books have been met with critical acclaim. The Calligrapher's Daughter was a finalist for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book and the 2009 PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Fiction. His novel, The Language of Blood, won the 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the 2010 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Kim's work has also been recognized by the American Library Association, which named his novel I'd Know You Anywhere, My Love one of its Best Books of the Year in 2012.
Conclusion
Peter Kim is an accomplished author and playwright whose works explore themes of race, class, and the complex human emotions of grief and longing. His novels, short stories, and plays have garnered acclaim and various awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. With themes of resilience, love, and courage, Peter Kim is sure to continue to be an engaging and important voice in American literature.