Nicole Chung

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Nicole Chung
Nicole Chung at the 2018 Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas
Nicole Chung at the 2018 Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas
Born (1981-05-05) May 5, 1981 (age 42)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
OccupationWriter, editor
NationalityAmerican
Alma materJohns Hopkins University
Genre
Notable worksAll You Can Ever Know
Children2
Website
nicolechung.net
Korean name
Hangul
정수정[1]
Revised RomanizationJeong Sujeong
McCune–ReischauerChŏng Suchŏng

Nicole Chung (born May 5, 1981)[2] is an American writer and editor. She is the former managing editor of The Toast, the editor-in-chief of Catapult magazine, and the author of the memoirs All You Can Ever Know (2018) and A Living Remedy (2023).

Early life and education[edit]

Chung was born in Seattle in 1981 to Korean parents who relinquished her to adoption after she spent months on life support.[3][4] She was raised in Oregon by adoptive white Catholic parents.[5] In her mid-20s Chung took a nonfiction class and started writing essays.[6] She attended Johns Hopkins University, graduating with an undergraduate degree from the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences in 2003 and an MA in 2014.[7]

As of 2019, Chung lives in Washington D.C., with her husband Dan and two daughters.[8] Both her parents died without Chung being able to visit: father due to her finances at the time; mother due to pandemic lockdowns.[9]

Career[edit]

Chung worked as the managing editor for The Toast from 2014 until the site closed in 2016, after which she became the editor-in-chief of Catapult magazine.[10][11] She continued writing essays on topics involving gender, race, and media, such as the impact of seeing Asian American figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi on television[12] and the experience of casual racism at dinner parties.[13]

All You Can Ever Know[edit]

Her first book, a memoir titled All You Can Ever Know, was published by Catapult in 2018. The memoir follows Chung's own life story as well as the story of her birth sister, whom she met after reestablishing contact with their birth parents.[14] The book is structured around Chung's efforts during her first pregnancy to reconstruct the story of her own origins, including searching for her birth family, contacting them, then discovering a history of abuse, divorce, and deception.[15]

Writing for The Washington Post, Bethanne Patrick called All You Can Ever Know "one of this year’s finest books",[16] while Publishers Weekly called it "vibrant and provocative".[4] Katy Waldman of The New Yorker praised the book's "relatability" but noted that the characters are "sympathetic, but not particularly enthralling" and that she wanted "more surprise, more invention, from this book".[15] Kate Tuttle of The Boston Globe summarized the book as "deeply thoughtful and moving" and "a fiercely compelling page-turner".[17]

A Living Remedy[edit]

Chung’s second memoir, A Living Remedy, was published in April 2023.[18] It deals with the US healthcare system and the deaths of her parents.

Works[edit]

  • Chung, Nicole (2018). All You Can Ever Know. Catapult. ISBN 9781936787975.
  • Chung, Nicole (2023). A Living Remedy: A Memoir. Ecco. ISBN 9780063031616.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Nicole Chung in Twitter".
  2. ^ "Nicole Chung in Twitter".
  3. ^ Macdonald, Moira (September 20, 2018). "Fall reading 2018: 9 books to curl up with this cozy time of year". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  4. ^ a b "All You Can Ever Know". Publishers Weekly. August 13, 2018. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  5. ^ Karimjee, Mariya (October 4, 2018). "'All You Can Ever Know' Offers A Personal Account Of Transracial Adoption". NPR. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  6. ^ Chung, Nicole (October 2, 2018). "E. B. White's Lesson for Debut Writers: It's Okay to Start Small". The Atlantic (Interview). Interviewed by Joe Fassler. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  7. ^ McCabe, Bret (December 10, 2018). "Transcending unbelonging". The Hub. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  8. ^ Wolk, Martin (March 25, 2019). "Reading the Northwest: How Nicole Chung found a family she never knew". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  9. ^ Wang, Qian Julie (4 April 2023). "Review: Amid her grief, a writer reflects on the inequity of health care". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  10. ^ Ortberg, Daniel Mallory (September 25, 2014). "Meet Nicole". The Toast. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  11. ^ Ruskin, Zack (August 30, 2018). "Former Toast Editor Nicole Chung Unearths Her Family Roots". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  12. ^ The Editors (April 2, 2016). "Kristi Yamaguchi and Cornbread: The Week in Pop-Culture Writing". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2018. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ Doyle, Jacqueline (August 5, 2016). "What Did You Say?". Electric Literature. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  14. ^ Chung, Nicole (September 26, 2018). "In Rare Company: An Interview with Nicole Chung". Columbia Journal (Interview). Interviewed by Sarah Rosenthal. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Waldman, Katy (October 9, 2018). "Nicole Chung's Adoption Memoir, "All You Can Ever Know," Is an Ode to Sisterly Love". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  16. ^ Patrick, Bethanne (October 1, 2018). "The 10 books to read in October". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  17. ^ Tuttle, Kate (October 5, 2018). "Raised by white parents, a Korean adoptee wrestles with identity". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  18. ^ Glaser, Gabrielle (2023-03-31). "A Transcendent Memoir About Family, Class and the Contours of Loss". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
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