<div dir="auto"><div><div><div dir="auto">Hello Korean Studies, <br clear="all">My name is Esther, and I'm a current Fulbright scholar living in Seoul. Below I share information for a reading with fellow artists held next Friday evening that's open to the public. We'd appreciate circulation on the list. </div><div dir="auto">Thank you! </div><div dir="auto">Esther</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><div style="font-size:inherit"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Please join Fulbright Korea Arts Scholars Esther Kim, Julayne Lee and Tom Pyun for an evening of multi-genre literary art and reflection. They will be sharing new essays, fiction and poems developed during their Fulbright research grants in Korea.</span></p><br style="font-size:inherit"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">When: Friday, June 12, 2026</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Location: Fulbright Building, Seoul</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><div style="font-size:inherit"><a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/fEZnjoA3WD35q6vd7?g_st=ic" style="font-size:inherit">https://maps.app.goo.gl/fEZnjoA3WD35q6vd7?g_st=ic</a></div></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><br></p></div><div style="font-size:inherit"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Esther Kim</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> is a writer, journalist, and critic. Her Fulbright grant (sponsored by Yonsei\u2019s Institute of Korean Studies) funded her research for a book on why and what Koreans forage. </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">After taking her degree in English (Wellesley College, 2012) and a masters in modernist literature (University of Edinburgh, 2013), she worked at Columbia University Press, promoting new scholarship. She earned a masters in Korean Studies (SOAS, University of London, 2019) while continuing work in the book business. She contributes a monthly column to the </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Korea Times</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> and criticism to American and British papers. This year, she self-published her first art book, HOMELANDS \uace0\ud5a5\ub545, with painter Martyna Alexander, a translation of her grandfather\u2019s story of his childhood in northern Korea (near Sinuiju) and journey to the south alone as a boy after liberation and before the outbreak of the war. She lives in Taiwan with her husband. <a href="mailto:namulstudios@gmail.com" target="_blank">namulstudios@gmail.com</a> </span></p><br style="font-size:inherit"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(34,34,34)">Julayne Lee </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">is an artistic researcher, poet and Fulbright alumnus (2024 - 2025). Her project \u201cAdopted Koreans as Space Makers\u201d is a poetic documentation of the history of Korean adoptees in Korea. Julayne\u2019s debut collection of poems</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Not My White Savior </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">was on Bitch Media's Bitchreads: 15 Books Feminists Should Read in March and Entropy's Best of 2018. It </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">has been taught globally in Freshman Lit, </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Asian/Pacific Islander American Women and US and Asia: Empire and Racial Liberalism</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">. </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Julayne has presented at universities and conferences in the U.S. & Korea. She has written for </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">The Washington Post</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">, </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">ILDA South Korean Feminist Journal,</span><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Cultural Daily</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> & elsewhere. @julayneelle </span></p><br style="font-size:inherit"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:inherit"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Tom Pyun </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">is a novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. He is a 2025-26 Fulbright alumnus. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University-Los Angeles, studied at Vassar College, and Columbia University. He has received writing fellowships from Tin House, VONA, and the Vermont Studio Center. His essays and short stories have appeared in The Rumpus and Joyland. His debut novel, </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Something Close to Nothing</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">, was reviewed by the </span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:italic;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Los Angeles Times</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)">, which called it \u201cvery, very funny\u201d and noted that it explores \u201cthe darkly hilarious side of our never-satisfied American dreams.\u201d He is currently adapting the novel into a feature screenplay. Before becoming a writer, Tom worked as a strategy consultant at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation\u2019s Polio Eradication Initiative and in the healthcare division of Los Angeles County Jail, the largest jail system in the world. After working in infectious disease and mass incarceration, he figures that if he can find humor in those environments, he can probably find it anywhere. @thp100</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br><br></span></p></div><br><br clear="all"><div dir="auto"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Sent from my iPhone<br></div></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><br></div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><br></div></div>
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