How is research different for a graphic novelist than say an ordinary novelist or a historian? What do you look for? I know that you visited the places that you wrote about and spoke with people affected by these events. Both stories take the reader back and forth between the present and the past, modern day and mid-century Korea. So they go back to it every now and then on their own and express it whenever the opportunity arises.Īlexander Chee: That’s such a beautiful entrance into the form, being able to study it by way of translation.īoth Grass and The Waiting deal with major historical events through the intimate experiences of people who lived through them. But as they get older, in one corner of their mind, they cannot forget about the family members they have been separated from.

It is something that they have deep inside, but don’t dare to take out and explore. But at the same time, they had this very faint hope of one day being reunited with their separated family members. They had to look after their children or take responsibility for their family. Most members of separated families, including my mother, had to get on with life. Nurturing the hope of a reunion in the mother seems almost cruel and yet it seems even more cruel to leave her without it. I was even more excited than I was already after reading your work.Ĭould you perhaps repeat the question about resilience for me?Īlexander Chee: I suppose it’s a very subtle point in the end, but I was really struck by the relationship between hope and the will to survive. This interview shares the highlights of their conversation, with interpretation offered by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.Īlexander Chee: I recently learned that my family is from the same town as yours, Goheung. The Waiting is a stunning achievement, and a testament to the power of her artistry. But maybe only black and white drawings can do this-Gendry-Kim offers us here a glimpse of the heart of a woman who has lost more than some might ever find, and who has never given up her love, if not her hope. How can black and white drawings do this, you might ask. The driving force behind November’s conversation was Gendry-Kim’s second English-language release, The Waiting, of which Chee has written: Keum Suk Gendry-Kim ( The Waiting) and Alexander Chee ( How to Write An Autobiographical Novel) spoke to one another as part of D+Q Live, a fall event series by the graphic novel publisher Drawn & Quarterly.

Discovered by Kim Black