Lisa Ko

Last updated

Lisa Ko
LisaKoDec2017.jpg
Born
New York City, U.S.
Alma mater Wesleyan University
Occupation(s)Writer, editor
Notable work The Leavers
Memory Piece
AwardsPEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, National Book Award for Fiction finalist
Website lisa-ko.com

Lisa Ko is an American writer. Her debut novel, The Leavers , was a national bestseller, won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction. Her short fiction has been published in Best American Short Stories and McSweeney's and her essays in The New York Times and The Believer . [1] [2] Ko's second novel, Memory Piece , was published in 2024.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Ko grew up in suburban New Jersey, the only child of Chinese immigrants from the Philippines. [3] [4] She began writing stories and keeping a journal at the age of five, though she only shared the work with others in high school. As a child, Ko and her parents ran a stand at craft shows and flea markets, an experience which later inspired her novel writing process. [5] She attended Wesleyan University, majoring in English.

Ko moved back to New York City in the late 1990s, where she worked in print magazines and had an early online diary called Incommunicado.net. [6] She took writing classes after work, including one at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop taught by Jhumpa Lahiri where her classmates included Cathy Park Hong, Ed Lin, and Min Jin Lee. [7] She lived in San Francisco in the early 2000s, where she was one of the founders of Hyphen magazine, serving as books editor. [8]

Ko earned a master's degree in Library and Information Sciences from San Jose State University in 2005 while working at a film production company. [9] [10] She received an MFA from the City College of New York in 2012, taking classes at night while working three day jobs. [11] [12]

Career

Ko's writing has been described as "exquisite," "draw[ing] characters with such deftness that they feel wholly alive." [13] [14] Her nonfiction has been called "revealing and wickedly perceptive." [15] Her writing often features music. [16] She has been referred to as "one of the few more popular contemporary Asian American writers whose writing does not pander to white audiences." [17]

In an interview in Electric Literature , Ko says that her novels "look at the relationship of Asian Americans to the US imperial project. They both also touch on the gap and tension between the stories we are told and stories we tell ourselves, and the importance—and complications—of community." [18]

Ko is the recipient of fellowships from Hedgebrook, MacDowell, the Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Ucross, Blue Mountain Center, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, among others. [19] She has been a guest speaker at many schools, book festivals, and universities and has taught creative writing at Indiana University, the New School, the City College of New York, the One Story Summer Writers Conference, and in many community settings. [20] In 2019, she taught in the DREAMing Out Loud program at Queens College. [21] Her work is often taught in high school and college classes throughout the United States. [22] [23]

The Leavers

Ko published her first novel, The Leavers , with Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in 2017 [24] after winning the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Established by Barbara Kingsolver, the prize awards $25,000 as well as a book contract for a work of previously unpublished fiction engaging social justice topics. [25] Ko submitted her novel for the prize after working on it for seven years, as part of her goal to receive 50 literary-related rejections in one year. [26] The book follows Polly, an undocumented immigrant from China to the United States, and her son Deming, who is adopted by a white couple when Polly goes missing. [27]

The Leavers was inspired by a 2009 New York Times story about an undocumented immigrant woman who was held, largely in solitary confinement, for more than a year and a half. [28] Reviewing the book in The New York Times , Gish Jen said Ko's book "has taken the headlines and reminded us that beyond them lie messy, brave, extraordinary, ordinary lives." [29]

The Leavers was a 2017 finalist for the National Book Award for fiction. [30] The judges’ citation called it "a bold reinvention of the Asian immigrant novel as great American novel." [31] It was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and won the Asian Pacific American Award for Adult Fiction. [32] [33]

The novel was a national best seller and named one of the best books of the year by NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, The Los Angeles Times, Electric Literature and the Irish Times. [34]

Memory Piece

In 2024, Ko published her second novel, Memory Piece , with Riverhead Books. The book was inspired by early internet culture, performance art, malls, and the challenges of surveillance capitalism. [35] Described as "queer not only in content but in form" and "a book about the triumph of community, friendship, and love," the novel follows three friends, a performance artist, a tech coder, and a housing activist, from the 1980s to the 2040s, using New York City as a microcosm of the larger political economy of the US. [36] [37] [38]

Lily Meyer, writing for The Atlantic , says that "Memory Piece asks what hopes are worth clinging to, what parts of society are worth participating in, what powers are worth putting in the energy to fight. It belongs to an American literary tradition that includes Dana Spiotta, George Saunders, and their patron saint, Don DeLillo: writers whose characters sense that their lives happen at the whim of forces too enormous to understand or evade, but set out to dodge them anyway."

At The Guardian , Holly Williams noted that "Ko writes with a cool, collected intelligence and is unafraid to wrangle big ideas." [39]

Barack Obama named Memory Piece as one of the selections on his Summer 2024 Reading List. [40] Emma Roberts selected the book as the April 2024 read for the Belletrist Book Club. [41] It received Best Book of the Year honors from Time, NPR, and Vogue and was longlisted for the New American Voices Prize. [42] [43]

Albany Book Festival

Along with writer Aisha Gawad, Ko became embroiled in controversy after objecting to participating on a panel at the Albany Book Festival, sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute. Accounts of the correspondence between Ko and festival representatives differ. Multiple news outlets published screenshots of excerpts from emails sent to Elisa Albert, sent by the Writers Institute's Mark Koplik to Albert, in which Koplik wrote “We have a crazy situation developing...Basically, not to sugar coat this, Aisha Gawad and Lisa Ko don't want to be on a panel with a ‘Zionist.’” While Albert wanted to proceed with the panel, it was canceled by the Albany Book Festival, resulting in outrage over the de-platforming of a writer based on her Jewish identity.

In response to the panel's cancellation, PEN America issued the following statement:

“It is deeply distressing that any writer would be denied the opportunity to speak and engage in conversation about their craft because of their identity.  All writers have a right to make decisions about where they participate and how, but it is tragic and outrageous to see that result in other writers being silenced and discriminated against. In these contentious times, we believe it is critical to maintain a commitment to dialogue and engagement. At its best, literature can be a bridge across difference, and a vital alternative to exclusion and censorship.” [44]

Ko has said that she did not decline to be on the panel, but "merely expressed concern about the decision to put Gawad, a Muslim author, on the same panel as Albert." [45] Ko told the Times Union, “I never refused to participate on the panel, and the accusation that I withdrew because the moderator is Jewish, or that I am unwilling to appear onstage with someone who is Jewish, is hurtful and completely false...misinformation that has gone on to foster an increasingly hostile response toward myself and others, including defamation and death threats.” [46] When asked for her response, Albert stated: "I was told that the two demanded I be replaced, and when that wasn't an option they boycotted. At this point, there is some concrete repair and learning and commitment to doing better that can and will be demanded of our institutions.”

Selected works

Novels

Short stories

Essays

Book reviews

Awards and honors

YearTitleAwardCategoryResultRef.
2016The Leavers PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction Won [47]
2017 National Book Award FictionShortlisted [48]
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Adult FictionWon [49]
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award FictionShortlisted [50]
2018 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel Shortlisted [51]
New York City Book Awards Hornblower Award for First Book Won [52]
Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlisted [53]
2019 Dublin Literary Award Longlisted [54]
2024Memory PieceNew American Voices AwardLonglisted [55]
Joyce Carol Oates Prize Longlisted [56]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toni Morrison</span> American novelist and editor (1931–2019)

Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987); she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

The PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation to the authors of the year's best works of fiction by living Americans, Green Card holders or permanent residents. The winner receives US$15,000 and each of four runners-up receives US$5000. Judges read citations for each of the finalists' works at the presentation ceremony in Washington, D.C.. The organization claims it to be "the largest peer-juried award in the country." The award was first given in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zadie Smith</span> British writer (born 1975)

Zadie Smith is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, White Teeth (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She became a tenured professor in the Creative Writing faculty of New York University in September 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Choi</span> American novelist (born 1969)

Susan Choi is an American novelist. She is the author of several acclaimed novels, including The Foreign Student (1998), American Woman (2003), and Trust Exercise (2019), which won the National Book Award for Fiction. Choi teaches creative writing at Yale University.

The PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway family and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/Society. It is administered by PEN America. Mary Welsh Hemingway, a member of PEN, founded the award in 1976 both to honor the memory of her husband and to recognize distinguished first books of fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PEN America</span> American association of writers

PEN America, founded in 1922, and headquartered in New York City, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of literature and human rights. PEN America is the largest of the more than 100 PEN centers worldwide that together compose PEN International. PEN America has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and since late 2023 also in Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lan Samantha Chang</span> American fiction writer

Lan Samantha Chang is an American novelist and short story writer. She is the author of The Family Chao (2022) and short story collection Hunger. For her fiction, which explores Chinese American experiences, she is a recipient of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Berlin Prize, the PEN/Open Book Award and the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohsin Hamid</span> British Pakistani writer

Mohsin Hamid is a British Pakistani novelist, writer and brand consultant. His novels are Moth Smoke (2000), The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013), Exit West (2017), and The Last White Man (2022).

The PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, formerly known as the Bellwether Prize for Fiction is a biennial award given by the PEN America and Barbara Kingsolver to a U.S. citizen for a previously unpublished work of fiction that address issues of social justice. The prize was established by noted author Barbara Kingsolver, and is funded by her. Winning authors receive a $25,000 award and a publishing contract, from which they receive royalties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yiyun Li</span> Chinese writer and professor (born 1972)

Yiyun Li is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Where Reasons End, and the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Book of Goose. Her short story collection Wednesday's Child was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is an editor of the Brooklyn-based literary magazine A Public Space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn See</span> American novelist and journalist (1934–2016)

Carolyn See was a professor emerita of English at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of ten books, including the memoir, Dreaming: Hard Luck and Good Times in America, an advice book on writing, Making a Literary Life, and the novels There Will Never Be Another You, Golden Days, and The Handyman. See was also a book critic for The Washington Post for 27 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Chang</span> American poet and childrens writer

Victoria Chang is an American poet, writer, editor, and critic. She has experimented with different styles of writing, including writing obituaries for parts of her life, including her parents and herself, in Obit, letters in Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief, and a Japanese form known as waka in The Trees Witness Everything. In all of her poems and books, Chang has several common themes: living as an Asian-American woman, depression, and dealing with loss and grief. She has also written two books for children.

The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection is awarded by the PEN America "to exceptionally talented fiction writers whose debut work — a first novel or collection of short stories ... represent distinguished literary achievement and suggests great promise." The winner is selected by a panel of PEN Members made up of three writers or editors. The PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize was originally named the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers. The prize awards the debut writer a cash award of US$25,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Fu</span> Canadian writer

Kim Fu is a Canadian-born writer, living in Seattle, Washington. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia to immigrant parents from Hong Kong, Fu studied creative writing at the University of British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namwali Serpell</span> Zambian feminist academic and writer (born 1980)

Namwali Serpell is an American and Zambian writer who teaches in the United States. In April 2014, she was named on Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with the potential and talent to define trends in African literature. Her short story "The Sack" won the 2015 Caine Prize for African fiction in English. In 2020, Serpell won the Belles-lettres category Grand Prix of Literary Associations 2019 for her debut novel The Old Drift.

<i>Citizen: An American Lyric</i> 2014 poetry book by Claudia Rankine

Citizen: An American Lyric is a 2014 book-length poem and a series of lyric essays by American poet Claudia Rankine. Citizen stretches the conventions of traditional lyric poetry by interweaving several forms of text and media into a collective portrait of racial relations in the United States. The book ranked as a New York Times Bestseller in 2015 and won several awards, including the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry, and the 2015 Forward Prize for Poetry Best Collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viet Thanh Nguyen</span> South Vietnamese-born American writer (born 1971)

Viet Thanh Nguyen is a South Vietnamese-born American professor and novelist. He is the Aerol Arnold Chair of English and Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

Julie Shigekuni is an American writer and professor. Her novels include A Bridge Between Us, Invisible Gardens, Unending Nora, and In Plain View, and she has won a PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of New Mexico.

<i>The Leavers</i> Novel by Lisa Ko

The Leavers is Lisa Ko's first novel, published on May 2, 2017.

<i>Memory Piece</i> 2014 novel by Lisa Ko

Memory Piece is a 2024 novel by American writer Lisa Ko, published by Riverhead Books. It follows Asian American women growing up New York City through the dawn of the internet and toward a dystopian future. Ko began writing the novel in 2016 shortly after selling the manuscript for her debut, The Leavers. It was named a Best Book of 2024 by Vogue.

References

  1. ↑ Ko, Lisa, "Opinions: the Myth of the Interchangeable Asian," The New York Times, October 14, 2018
  2. ↑ "Distancing #6: Rock 'n Soul Part 1". Believer Magazine. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  3. ↑ Hong, Terry (2 May 2017). "'The Leavers,' inspired by a real story, confronts transracial adoption". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN   0882-7729 . Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "'The Leavers' novelist Lisa Ko found success through massive failure". NBC News. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  5. ↑ Ko, Lisa (22 March 2024). "Lisa Ko: How Writing a Novel is Like Wandering a Flea Market". Literary Hub. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  6. ↑ Zhang, Cat (27 March 2024). "Lisa Ko's Memory Piece Is for the 'Asian American Art Weirdos'". The Cut. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  7. ↑ Luo, Michael (17 February 2022). "What Min Jin Lee Wants Us to See". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  8. ↑ Hung, Melissa (28 May 2017). "Interview with "The Leavers" Author Lisa Ko". Hyphen Magazine. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Spartan Bookshelf – Washington Square: The Stories of San Jose State University". blogs.sjsu.edu. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  10. ↑ Ko, Lisa (3 May 2017). "Not Finishing My Novel Would Have Ruined My Life". Literary Hub. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  11. ↑ York, The City College of New (23 March 2017). "Noted CCNY creative writing alums on how to get published". The City College of New York. Retrieved 4 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ↑ Ko, Lisa (3 May 2017). "Not Finishing My Novel Would Have Ruined My Life". Literary Hub. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  13. ↑ Gray-Grant, Daphne (30 December 2021). "The figurative language of Lisa Ko..." Publication Coach. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  14. ↑ McGuire, Nneka (16 March 2024). "A novel as ambitious as a 'Great British Baking' showstopper". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ "Lisa Ko - Lyceum Agency". 6 April 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  16. ↑ Zhang, Cat (27 March 2024). "Lisa Ko's Memory Piece Is for the 'Asian American Art Weirdos'". The Cut. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  17. ↑ vietgirlreads (29 February 2024). "Lisa Ko's books are SO original and SO good". TikTok. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  18. ↑ Lit, Intern Electric (9 April 2024). "Lisa Ko on Making Memory Under Capitalism". Electric Literature. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  19. ↑ "AAWW at 30: In the Heart". Asian American Writers' Workshop. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  20. ↑ "AAWW at 30: In the Heart". Asian American Writers' Workshop. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  21. ↑ "CUNY Partners With Pen America to Expand 'Dreaming Out Loud' Program, Providing Paid Writing Workshops to Students, Community Members". The City University of New York. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  22. ↑ "Department of English". www.english.upenn.edu. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  23. ↑ "Negotiating Identities Part 2, (Second half of Lisa Ko's The Leavers) Week 11 Context Presentation | Comparative Studies 1100 Autumn 2021_Mahmoudi.4". u.osu.edu. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  24. ↑ "THE LEAVERS by Lisa Ko". Kirkus Books. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  25. ↑ Cha, Steph (8 June 2017). "The immigrant novel, 2017: Lisa Ko's 'The Leavers' shines a light on ugly truths". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  26. ↑ "ReadUP author Lisa Ko shares inspiration behind "The Leavers"". The Beacon. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  27. ↑ Miller, Stuart (12 May 2017). "Lisa Ko Talks Immigration, Fractured Families and The Leavers". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  28. ↑ Weiss-Meyer, Amy (14 May 2017). "'The Leavers' Is a Wrenching Tale of Parenthood". The Atlantic. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  29. ↑ Jen, Gish (16 May 2017). "Migration, a Makeshift Family, and Then a Disappearance". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  30. ↑ "2017 National Book Award finalists revealed". CBS News. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  31. ↑ "The Leavers". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  32. ↑ Johnson, Kirk Wallace. "Shelf Awareness for Monday, April 2, 2018". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  33. ↑ "2017-2018 Awards Winners". APALA . 11 February 2018. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  34. ↑ "AAWW at 30: In the Heart". Asian American Writers' Workshop. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  35. ↑ Ko, Lisa (22 March 2024). "Lisa Ko: How Writing a Novel is Like Wandering a Flea Market". Literary Hub. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  36. ↑ Upadhyaya, Kayla Kumari (13 May 2024). "'Memory Piece' Understands the Power of an Archive". Autostraddle. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  37. ↑ Dazed (26 March 2024). "New novel Memory Piece imagines life in a dystopian New York". Dazed. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  38. ↑ "Author Lisa Ko on 'Memory Piece' (Get Lit) | All Of It". WNYC. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  39. ↑ Williams, Holly (24 March 2024). "Memory Piece by Lisa Ko review – anxiety hums off the page in dystopian New York story". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  40. ↑ Foundation, Obama. "President Obama's favorite films, books, and music of 2024". Obama Foundation. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  41. ↑ "See all of Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss' 2024 Belletrist Book Club Selections". People.com. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  42. ↑ "Memory Piece by Lisa Ko: 9780593542101 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  43. ↑ Book, Fall for the (30 July 2024). "2024 New American Voices Award Longlist". Fall for the Book Festival. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  44. ↑ "PEN America: "Tragic and Outrageous" That Albany Book Festival Cancels Panel Over Jewish Moderator". PEN America. 22 September 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  45. ↑ Horn, Dara (7 October 2024). "October 7 Created a Permission Structure for Anti-Semitism". The Atlantic. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  46. ↑ Tine, Patrick (25 September 2024). "Authors speak out after book festival firestorm". Times Union. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  47. ↑ kanopi_admin (23 February 2016). "2016 PEN Literary Award Winners". PEN America. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  48. ↑ "Lisa Ko". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  49. ↑ "2017-2018 AWARDS WINNERS – APALA". 11 February 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  50. ↑ Mangan, Christine. "Shelf Awareness for Thursday, March 8, 2018". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  51. ↑ Johnson, Kirk Wallace. "Shelf Awareness for Monday, April 2, 2018". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  52. ↑ "The 2017-2018 New York City Book Awards | The New York Society Library". www.nysoclib.org. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  53. ↑ Travers, Andrew (12 December 2017). "Aspen Words announces longlist for new literary prize, faculty for Summer Words". www.aspentimes.com. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  54. ↑ IGO (3 September 2019). "The Leavers". Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  55. ↑ Book, Fall for the (30 July 2024). "2024 New American Voices Award Longlist". Fall for the Book Festival. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  56. ↑ "Joyce Carol Oates Prize Longlist Announced". New Literary Project. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.