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One Book One Northwestern

ONE BOOK PHOTO CONTEST

Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart connects with themes of family and home. The photos in our photo contest depict food and family, whether biological or chosen.

View the winners of the Photo Contest HERE.

2023-24 One Book Selection

"Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner

One Book One Northwestern is pleased to announce that the One Book selection for 2023-24 is "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner. Best known as the singer and guitarist who creates dreamy, shoegaze-inspired indie pop under the name Japanese Breakfast, Zauner became a bestselling author in 2021 when her book about the loss of her mother, their shared love for Korean food and being biracial as an Asian American rocketed to the top of the New York Times Bestsellers list. History and Asian American Studies Professor Ji-Yeon Yuh will be the One Book faculty Chair. Zauner will be on both the Chicago and Evanston campuses October 18, 2023.

 

Message from Faculty Chair Ji-Yeon Yuh

Coming of age in one's twenties is hard enough, but add caring for your dying mother into the mix and it can feel like losing one's very moorings. With "Crying in H Mart," singer and songwriter Michelle Zauner transforms her heartbreak into a haunting meditation on love, family, and grief. The leader of the band Japanese Breakfast, she awakens the reader's sensory imagination with lyrical descriptions of the food that binds her to her mother and her immigrant heritage as a mixed Korean American. In mourning and thereby rediscovering her mother, she comes to understand her own personhood in all its dazzling depth and diversity. Showcasing seemingly small observations about food, childhood, and caring for a dying mother, she evokes emotions and paints pictures of an intense mother-daughter relationship that is both unique and universal. Indeed, her journey of loss, reclamation, and self-discovery is universal in its themes while specific in its individuality.

In our continuing covid times when death hovers around us, for families realigning relationships as grown children leave home or perhaps return home and as loved ones die, for all of us grappling with the changes and setbacks of life, "Crying in H Mart" offers a vision of resilience, grace, and enduring love. For Northwestern's multiple, diverse communities, it is the right book at the right time.

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Feb
16
2024

Dictee Marathon Reading

2:00 PM
Please join the Poetry & Poetics Colloquium for a marathon reading of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's DICTEE on Friday, February...
Feb
17
2024

2024 Argyle Lunar New Year Celebration

11:00 AM Argyle Street
To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, One Book is co-hosting a student field trip to the Lunar New Year celebrations in U...
Feb
22
2024

Exploring 'Crying in H Mart': Case Studies for Facilitating Meaningful Dialogue in the Classroom

10:00 AM
Navigating complex topics like grief, family dynamics, and cultural identities in a classroom setting can feel overwhelm...
Feb
28
2024

Dittmar Dinner with Professor Helen Cho

5:30 PM Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive
Join us on February 28th 2024 from 5:30-7pm in the Dittmar Gallery for an event featuring Asian American Studies Profess...
Mar
5
2024

An Evening of Poetry Readings and Conversation with Victoria Chang and Jenny Xie

5:00 PM University Hall, 1897 Sheridan Road
Victoria Chang’s forthcoming book of poems, With My Back to the World will be published in 2024 by Farrar, Straus & Giro...
Apr
11
2024

A Reading and Recital featuring Poet Sun Yung Shin and Pianist Shirley Yoo

5:00 PM University Hall, 1897 Sheridan Road
신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin was born in Seoul, Korea and was raised in the Chicago area. She is a poet, writer, and cultural wor...

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Nancy M. Cunniff

ONE BOOK DIRECTOR

During her tenure, Nancy Cunniff has elevated the “One Book” brand to become a signature University program involving the entire campus.
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Faculty Chair OBON 23-24

ONE BOOK FACULTY CHAIR

One Book One Northwestern is excited to announce that the One Book faculty chair for 2023-24 is Ji-Yeon Yuh, a historian of diaspora and international migration, an expert in Asian American history and the Korean diaspora, and professor of history in the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
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Alison Choi

ONE BOOK GRADUATE ASSISTANT

This year, One Book One Northwestern's graduate assistant is Alison Choi, a third-year PhD student in the History Department at Northwestern. Alison studies Korean diasporic cultural production, and assists Nancy Cunniff and Ji-Yeon Yuh in running the 2023-24 One Book One Northwestern events.
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