Nora Okja Keller | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 22, 1966 (1966-12-22) |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable works | Comfort Woman,Fox Girl |
| Notable awards | American Book Award Elliot Cades Award for Literature[1] Pushcart Prize |
| Spouse | James Keller |
Nora Okja Keller (born 22 December 1966, inSeoul,South Korea) is aKorean American author. Her 1997 breakthrough work of fiction,Comfort Woman, and her second book (2002),Fox Girl, focus on multigenerational trauma resulting from Korean women's experiences assex slaves, euphemistically calledcomfort women, for Japanese and American troops during World War II and the ongoing Korean War.[2][3]
Keller’s first novel was highly praised by critics, includingMichiko Kakutani inThe New York Times, who said that inComfort Woman, "Keller has written a powerful book about mothers and daughters and the passions that bind generations." Kakutani called it "a lyrical and haunting novel" and "an impressive debut."[4]Comfort Woman won theAmerican Book Award in 1998 and the 1999 Elliot Cades Award; previously, in 1995, Keller won thePushcart Prize for a short story, "Mother-Tongue", which became the second chapter ofComfort Woman.[5] In 2003, she won the Hawai'i Award for Literature.[6]
Keller is a graduate of thePunahou School in Honolulu.[3] She received her B.A. from theUniversity of Hawaii with a double major in psychology and English[3] and worked in Honolulu as a freelance writer, including at the newspaperHonolulu Star-Bulletin.[7] She earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. in American Literature from theUniversity of California at Santa Cruz.[2] She now works as an English teacher at Punahou School.
Keller was raised primarily by her Korean mother, Tae Im Beane, inHawaii and identifies her ethnicity as Korean American.[2] Her father, Robert Cobb, however, was a German computer engineer.[8] She has lived in Hawaii from the age of three.[9] Married since 1990 to James Keller, she has two daughters,Tae and Sunhi Keller.[8] Her daughter,Tae Keller, received the 2021Newbery Medal from theAmerican Library Association for heryoung adult bookWhen You Trap a Tiger.[10]
Keller says she first heard of the term "Asian American" when she took a course in Asian American literature, the first course in this topic offered by the University of Hawaii. The syllabus includedMaxine Hong Kingston,Jade Snow Wong, andJoy Kogawa.[2] The genesis ofComfort Woman dated to a 1993 human rights symposium at the University of Hawaii where Keller heard a presentation by Keum Ja Hwang, who had been acomfort woman.[4][5] "Her experience was so extraordinary," Keller has said, "I thought someone should write about it."[7] Keller’s novels explore her own complex ethnic identity in the context of Hawaii’s multi-ethnic society and her relationship with her mother (upon whom "some details"[7] of characters in her fiction are based).
