A searing work of narrative non-fiction that explores displacement and loss, creativity and change, institutional power and progress
Born in Korea, raised in the American South, and trying her best to survive British academia, SJ Kim probes her experiences to confront the silences she finds in the world.
Longlisted for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
Born in Korea, raised in the American South, and trying her best to survive British academia, SJ Kim probes her experiences as a writer, scholar, and daughter to confront the silences she finds in the world. With curiosity and sensitivity, she writes letters to the institutions that simultaneously support and fail her, intimate accounts of immigration, and interrogations of rising anti-Black and anti-Asian racism. She considers the silences between generations―especially within the Asian diaspora in the West―as she finds her way back to her own family during the pandemic lockdown. Embracing the possibilities and impossibilities of language, Kim rejoices in the similes of Korean, her mother tongue, and draws inspiration from K-dramas and writers who sustain her, including Yusef Komunyakaa, Don Mee Choi, Toni Morrison, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha.
Long-listed for Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction 2025
‘Rather than drawing readers into the discrete and measured intimacy of many memoirs, Kim leans into the inaccessibility of one’s full experience as interpreted by another. The author’s quiet absences sharpen the edges of her inspection of entrenched, implied superiority and easy erasure in discussions of race and in the expectations of immigrants…Kim materialises as a teacher who takes her role seriously as she calls herself and her readers to action.’ Kirkus (starred review)
‘Throughout, Kim’s astute observations reveal the varied meanings of silence, whether she’s discussing her struggle to connect with her parents or holding her tongue after a white interlocutor’s racially insensitive comment. Probing and deeply felt, this entrances.’ Publishers Weekly
SJ Kim was born in Korea and raised in the American South. She is the author of This Part Is Silent, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Her writing on racial, gendered, institutional and political violence has appeared in Wasafiri, Oxford American, and The Hanok Review among other publications. She resides in the UK and teaches creative writing at the University of Warwick.
This item is eligible for simple returns within 30 days of delivery. Return shipping is the responsibility of the customer. See our returns policy for further details.
