Nora Okja Keller
Nora Okja Keller | |
---|---|
Born | December 22, 1966 |
Spouse | James Keller |
Nora Okja Keller (born 22 December 1966, in
Critical acclaim
Keller’s first novel was highly praised by critics, including
Professional background
Keller is a graduate of the
Personal background and ethnicity
Keller was raised primarily by her Korean mother, Tae Im Beane, in Hawaii and identifies her ethnicity as Korean American.[2] Her father, Robert Cobb, however, was a German computer engineer.[8] She has lived in Hawaii from the age of three.[9] Married since 1990 to James Keller, she has two daughters, Tae and Sunhi Keller.[8] Her daughter, Tae Keller, received the 2021 Newbery Medal from the American Library Association for her young adult book When You Trap a Tiger.[10]
Influences on her work
Keller says she first heard of the term "Asian American" when she took a course in Asian American literature, the first course in this topic offered by the University of Hawaii. The syllabus included Maxine Hong Kingston, Jade Snow Wong, and Joy Kogawa.[2] The genesis of Comfort Woman dated to a 1993 human rights symposium at the University of Hawaii where Keller heard a presentation by Keum Ja Hwang, who had been a comfort woman.[4][5] "Her experience was so extraordinary," Keller has said, "I thought someone should write about it."[7] Keller’s novels explore her own complex ethnic identity in the context of Hawaii’s multi-ethnic society and her relationship with her mother (upon whom "some details"[7] of characters in her fiction are based).
Other writing
- Fox Girl
- Yobo : Korean American Writing in Hawai'i, edited by Keller, Honolulu, HI : Bamboo Ridge Press, 2003
- Intersecting Circles: The Voices of Hapa Women in Poetry and Prose, edited by Keller & Marie Hara, Bamboo Ridge Press, 1999
References
- ^ "Elliot Cades Award for Literature". Hawai'i Literary Arts Council. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d Birnbaum, Robert (29 April 2002). "Author of Comfort Woman and Fox Girl talks with Robert Birnbaum". IdentityTheory.com A Literary Website. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ a b c Hong, Terry (2002). "The Dual Lives of Nora Okja Keller, An Interview" (PDF). The Bloomsbury Review. 22 (5).
- ^ a b Kakutani, Michiko (25 March 1997). "Repairing Lives Torn by the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ a b Hong, Terry (4–10 April 2002). "The Dual Lives of Nora Okja Keller". AsianWeek. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ List of winners, accessed 16 July 2010
- ^ a b c Burlingame, Burl (1 April 1997). "Nora Okja Keller scores big -- her first novel is released by a major publisher". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Nora Okja Keller". Seattle, Washington: University of Washington. n.d. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- JSTOR 3595304.
- ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. (25 January 2021). "Tae Keller Wins Newbery Medal for 'When You Trap a Tiger'". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2021.