Caroline Kim & Alexander Chee

2020 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner Caroline Kim in conversation with author and guest judge Alexander Chee 

Exploring what it means to be human through the Korean diaspora, Caroline Kim’s The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories features many characters, where each must face their less-than-ideal circumstances and find a way to overcome them without losing themselves. With humor, insight, and curiosity, Kim’s wide-ranging stories explore themes of culture, communication, travel, and family. Ultimately, what unites these characters across time and distance is their longing for human connection and a search for the place—or people—that will feel like home.

Caroline Kim  has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Michigan, where she won a Hopwood Award, and an MA in Fiction from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She was nominated by  Jellyfish Review  for a 2019 Best of the Net award.

Alexander Chee is the author of the novels Edinburgh and The Queen of the Night, and the essay collection How To Write An Autobiographical Novel.