By Honorary Reporter Khushi Yadav from India
Photo = Frances Cha

Author Frances Cha is a former journalist who turned to writing after moving to New York.

Frances Cha is a Korean American writer of children’s books and adult fiction. Her debut novel "If I Had Your Face" in 2020 was named one of the year's best books by Time magazine, USA Today, Esquire, National Public Radio, The BBC and other media. 

Her experience in journalism, especially as a travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul, influenced her approach to fiction by contextualizing stories for diverse audiences. Cha's latest book, "The Goblin Twins," draws inspiration from the multifaceted nature of the traditional goblin dokkaebi in Korean folklore. 

The following are excerpts from an Oct. 2 email interview with the writer. 

Why did you shift from journalism to fiction?
I've always found that the two disciplines feed each other in my workflow. I was part of the school paper and literary journal in high school and college. During grad school, I interned at fashion magazines and a business journal in Korea and after receiving my MFA, I worked at CNN in Korea and Hong Kong. 

Journalism is an incredible foundation for writing fiction because you are constantly interviewing and covering interesting people in interesting situations and trying to contextualize them for your audience. When my husband received a job offer in New York and we moved, I left journalism and thought it would be the perfect time to focus on my novel, which I had been writing off and on since graduate school. Writing fiction has always been my blazing dream since I was a child.

How did your news background influence your approach to fiction? 
At CNN in Korea, I was interviewing and working in Korean but found writing Korean content in English and contextualizing each story to fascinate both international and Korean readers pretty challenging. That was essential training for writing a novel in which all characters are in Korea speaking Korean but in English. I was on the digital side, so witnessing first-hand how changing the headline, or even one word in the headline, could lead to immediate fluctuations in millions of viewers was fascinating and informative about the power of words.

Why did you choose "If I Had Your Face" as the title of your debut novel?
One of the main themes of the book is how we humans are quick to judge other people’s choices and how we assume we would live their lives better than them if we had their opportunities. Beauty is a big theme in the book as well, and this was the title that my editor and agent responded to the most of the several that we considered.

Frances Cha's latest book is "The Goblin Twins." 

Why did you choose Korean goblins as the subject? 

The duality of dokkaebi throughout Korean history was very interesting to me in my research. In adult tales, they are often quite scary figures but in children’s tales, they are depicted as funny or foolish tricksters. I love how they live in abandoned houses and wondered how they would fare in modern society, which has few abandoned houses as every square inch is being developed. Everything I learned about dokkaebi was fascinating, and I wanted to consider them characters with different personalities going on an adventure in the modern world.

What was your purpose in introducing such goblins to children? 
I wanted to introduce an aspect of Korean culture not well known outside of Korea and also a new tale for children and grownups familiar with the concept of dokkaebi. While making the story as funny as possible, I also wanted Easter eggs and jokes for grownups as well. A bookseller once told me that many Asian children’s books have "sad characters" (in America), and this made me write something with Korean characters who are not sad or underdogs, but rather funny and interesting.

How do your works fit into global representation of Korean culture? 
From my understanding, my book was the first novel originally written in English set in modern Korea and thus adds a facet of diversity to works out there. It was so interesting to see the 2019 film "Parasite" win Academy Awards and have people compare my book to the film. Many readers have told me it was the first time they read a book set in Korea and "Parasite" was the first film they saw set in Korea, so the two are linked in their minds.

What impact do you hope your works have on readers in both Korea and the world?
I hope that my writing can be a portal into contemporary Korea and the nuances of complex situations unique to the country. For both Korean and international readers, I hope that my fiction provides an understanding of the shared human experience through interesting individual stories, prompting discussions and deepening connections between people of different backgrounds.

This page is from Frances Cha's children's book "The Goblin Story."

What works can readers expect from you next?
I have a sequel to "The Goblin Twins" coming out in fall next year with the title "The Goblin Twins: Too Hard To Scare." I'm also working on two other children's books and my second adult novel, which is also set in Korea.

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.