Stephanie Han
Stephanie Han (MFA, PhD) is a writer, editor, and educator. Her debut short story collection Swimming in Hong Kong (Willow Springs Books/Eastern Washington University Press distributed by the University of Washington Press) was the finalist for the AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction as well as the Spokane Prize. Individual stories won recognition from Nimrod International Literary Journal, Santa Fe Writer’s Project, and the South China Morning Post. Han is the very first PhD graduate in English literature from City University of Hong Kong. Her fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and literary criticism have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies. She resides in Honolulu, Hawaii and Mui Wo, Lantau, Hong Kong.
Swimming in Hong Kong
Stephanie Han’s award-winning stories cross the borders and boundaries of Hong Kong, Korea, and the United States. This is an intimate look at those who dare to explore the geography of hope and love, struggle with dreams of longing and home, and wander in the myths of memory and desire. Stephanie Han’s Swimming in Hong Kong was the finalist for the AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction as well as the Spokane Prize.
Reviews
“Stephanie Han’s Swimming in Hong Kong features precise and subtle meditations on cross-cultural experiences, from Asian Americans in the Midwest and Asia to women negotiating male-dominated worlds. Han gracefully traverses a complicated terrain fraught with the politics of race, sex, class, gender, and culture. Readers will be grateful for having spent time with these quiet and insightful stories.”
–Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer, Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
“Swimming in Hong Kong is a fine debut. Han captures a host of young people caught in the complexities of global identity with easy authority; the result rings with authenticity and feeling.” –Gish Jen, Tiger Writing: Art, Culture, and the Interdependent Self
“In this poignant, bitter-sweet, sometimes playful, collection, Swimming In Hong Kong, the characters are in search of home, identity, love, respect. They are mostly from China, Korea, and other countries, with some connections to the U.S. Their interactions and intermingling are often full of confusion and misunderstanding as they deal with issues of history, culture, religion, family, displacement, identity. The reader is enlightened as the characters try to cope with complex issues in their lives. The settings are full of striking details. The tone and voice are varied and engaging.”
–Nahid Rachlin, Judge of the 2015 AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction
Links
Review(s):
- https://hkrbooks.com/2017/01/12/swimming-in-hong-kong/
- http://www.femmeliterate.net/swimming-in-hong-kong-by-stephanie-han/
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