Videos of Krys Lee (Drifting House) and agent Susan Golomb (over 45 minutes; 3 clips)

KTLIT LogoWith Krys Lee soon to return to Seoul to face a potential ‘sea of fire‘ we thought we’d share three video clips of Krys and agent Susan Golomb speaking at the The Center for Fiction on Feb 6, of this year.

This is over 45 minutes of clips, so settle down with a good cup of tea if you plan to watch the entire series.

Clip One includes Lee reading a clip from The Goose Father, one of the short stories in Drifting House. It’s a cool story, because it tells the story while also introducing the social concept – kind of like a lecture in Korean society embedded in a story. It also has one of Lee’s ‘Drifting House” metaphors.^^

This clip is shortest at 9:24.

 

The second clip is quite a bit longer at 22:32, and includes and interviewer and the agent.This begins with a bit of business; how the author and agent (Who also represents Jonathon Franzen) met at a writer’s workshop, and is really more about the business than anything else. Golomb has nice things to say about Lee, and also discusses one of the most harrowing of Lee’s stories, The True Believer. They talk a little bit out the actual putting together of the book and why some of the choices are ordered they way they are as well as how the editing process worked. It is interesting to hear that the story was originally submitted to the publisher with a timeline of Korean history, to give the multiple layers of culture some context. There is also an interesting anecdote about ‘baiting’ the publisher with the promise of a novel, which is currently underway (watch the clip and learn what it is about!) as well as a bit of advice to aspiring writers.

There is also the excellent news that there are already more short stories written.

The last clip is 15:27 and, predictably, includes audience questions which quickly turn away from the actual writing (Lee sits mute for the first 5 minutes!) as all the potential writers in the audience focus in on how to advance their own careers.^^ It does turn, later to Lee, and it briefly touches on her relationship with North Korean refugees.