Heart Eater: A Memoir of Immigration, Belonging, and How We Find Ourselves in Language

Heart Eater traces the author’s childhood and how she went from being a nameless, abandoned nine-month-old baby in Seoul, South Korea to, as an adult, becoming an award-winning Asian American author who writes in multiple genres. The book is made of short essays, or “field notes,” that explore moments and experiences in the author’s life that made her pay extra attention to the words being used.

Each titled “field note” memorializes and reflects on encounters with language regarding race, e...