Thursday, August 4, 7:30 PM
Krys Lee presents How I Became a North Korean
In conversation with Jessie Chaffee
From an incredible literary talent whose first book, Drifting House, won the 2012 Story Prize Spotlight Award comes a high-stakes narrative set in one of the most forbidding environments in the modern world. Inspired by her personal experiences helping North Korean refugees, Krys Lee’s novel How I Became a North Korean examines the lives of three seemingly disparate characters as they intersect and struggle to survive in the complex and dangerous Chinese territory bordering North Korea. This brilliant and essential exploration of the persistence of humanity merits comparison to novels by Anthony Marra, Téa Obreht, and Adam Johnson, all of which shed light on conflicts in different parts of the world through masterful storytelling. Jessie Chaffee, editor at Words Without Borders, joins Lee for conversation.