I’ve been a journalist for more than 15 years.

In that time, I’ve covered a range of topics from foreign affairs, business, technology, food and the arts.

First-Person Pieces

The Girls in the Boat - Indiana Review - July 2024 (print only)

Don’t wait on that book project: Now is the time, and here’s how - Poynter - November 30, 2022 (web version)

A Person of Color’s Guide to Navigating Writing Residencies - Catapult - August 17, 2022

Finding a Way to My Father Through ‘Peppermint Candy’ - Catapult - May 18, 2021

Paying It Forward Helped Me Rediscover My Shine - Keys Soulcare - May 18, 2021

In Its Joy, ‘Minari’ Expands the Boundaries of the American Dream - Bitch Media - March 17, 2021

From Haunting to Healing: On the Gwangju Uprising and ‘Human Acts’ - Catapult - May 18, 2020

We Were Taken In the Night - Slice Magazine - Fall ’19 - Winter ’20 (view pdf)

Less Than Perfect: What I left off of my college admissions applications - Bitch Media - June 3, 2019

The Cost of a Mother - Pigeon Pages - May 12, 2019

The Give and The Take: How caring for children is helping me reckon with my own childhood abuse - Asian American Writers’ Workshop - April 23, 2019

I survived college mania at America’s most stressed-out high school - CNN Business - June 21, 2015

Bae: The Internet hijacked my last name - CNN Business - January 5, 2015

How to look like a million bucks on a Millennial’s budget - CNN Business - July 21, 2015

Journalism

Review: In ‘Single Lady,’ a wickedly funny Ali Wong reenters the dating pool - San Francisco Chronicle - October 8, 2024

Litquake turns 25 with a determination to ‘not only survive, but thrive’ - San Francisco Chronicle - October 2, 2024

Review: ‘Dìdi’ provides slice of Bay Area life, coming-of-age tale in Y2K era - San Francisco Chronicle - July 30, 2024

Review: ‘Frybread Face and Me’ is a tender, coming-of-age exploration of reservation life and gender - San Francisco Chronicle - November 21, 2023

Review: ‘Love in Taipei’ tones down Bay Area author’s debaucherous YA novel - San Francisco Chronicle - August 9, 2023

‘Past Lives’ review: A romance that examines what we lose — and gain — from immigration - San Francisco Chronicle - June 6, 2023

Review: In ‘Joyland,’ everyone is allowed to explore their desire - San Francisco Chronicle - May 17, 2023

Guide to films, food and more at CAAMFest 2023, from ‘Joy Ride’ to Michelle Yeoh’s next project - San Francisco Chronicle - May 5, 2023

Review: Ali Wong and Steven Yeun burn bright in Netflix’s rage-filled ‘Beef’ - San Francisco Chronicle - April 5, 2023

Review: Controversy aside, ‘The Crown’ season 5 takes spotlight off the late Queen Elizabeth II - San Francisco Chronicle - November 8, 2022

John Cho channels his own experiences as a parent for new road-trip dramedy ‘Don’t Make Me Go’ - San Francisco Chronicle - July 12, 2022

Review: Pride, prejudice, poppers and parties flood Hulu’s ‘Fire Island’ - San Francisco Chronicle - May 30, 2022

Review: Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’ is pitch-perfect Millennial bait - San Francisco Chronicle - March 7, 2022

Pandemic jobless benefits are gone. Where does that leave many Americans? - The Washington Post - Oct. 1, 2021

In Justin Chon’s ‘Blue Bayou,’ one man’s fictional immigration saga raises real-world political awareness - San Francisco Chronicle - Sept. 16, 2021

Some Korean pastors say they need to be more vocal about racial justice - The Washington Post - May 21, 2021

On deeply personal terms, Asian Americans are disrupting the beauty industry - CNN Style - April 7, 2021

Is this what we consider ‘a good education’? Interrogating the Asian American disconnect in the debate over NYC’s specialized high schools - Asian American Writers’ Workshop - October 17, 2019
Published jointly with Documented NY

What does it take to create art that bridges divides?
How art teacher Cecile Chong has connected generations, continents and patterns and migration in her work - Asian American Writers’ Workshop - June 6, 2019

Employers are pulling a fast one on you by offering ‘unlimited’ vacation time - Thrillist - Aug. 25, 2016

Why failure is so important to career success - CNN Business - April 18, 2015

NYPD Twitter campaign #myNYPD hijacked, backfires spectacularly - amNewYork - April 22, 2014

A ‘News’ Story: New Secretary, New President, New Media - U.S. Department of State’s Official Blog - April 13, 2013

Songdo: A global, high-tech city model - Citiscope.org - March 2011

Island attack gets attention of South Korean youth - The Associated Press - December 3, 2010

Saving ‘a slice of green earth’ - The Miami Herald - February 25, 2006

Books Coverage

Roundups

Holiday 2024: A vivid, globe-trotting novel is among 9 Bay Area books fit for gifting this season - San Francisco Chronicle - November 14, 2024

Fall 2024: Poetic perspectives from ‘Undocumented Diaspora’ — and 10 new books for a season of change - San Francisco Chronicle - September 5, 2024

Summer 2024: 8 new Bay Area books perfect to pore over - San Francisco Chronicle - May 24, 2024

18 new books that celebrate the Asian American experience - San Francisco Chronicle - May 1, 2024

Bay Area books: 22 new works to energize your spring reading - San Francisco Chronicle - March 5, 2024

Librarians’ top picks for young readers to celebrate Black History Month - San Francisco Chronicle - February 1, 2024

These new books could be some of the best reads of 2024 - San Francisco Chronicle - December 5, 2023

21 gift-worthy books for the holidays (2023) - San Francisco Chronicle - November 17, 2023

25 highly anticipated books to put on your radar this fall (2023) - San Francisco Chronicle - September 1, 2023

17 books we can’t wait to read this summer (2023) - San Francisco Chronicle - May 31, 2023

Book List: Hannah Bae’s Korean American favorites - Bookshop.org (via Folio Books) - February 4, 2021

Author Interviews

Feature: ‘An iconic Asian American cultural force gets a second life in print’ - Eric Nakamura - ‘Giant Robot’ - San Francisco Chronicle - October 16, 2024

Yangsook Choi - ‘A Letter to My Best Friend’ - Kirkus Reviews

Feature: How San Francisco’s ‘queer abundance’ inspires the fiction of R. O. Kwon - San Francisco Chronicle - May 12, 2024

Bora Chung - ‘Your Utopia’ - Kirkus Reviews - March 13, 2024

Feature: ‘Native son of Silicon Valley,’ Pulitzer-winning author remains true to his multifaceted nature in memoir - ‘A Man of Two Faces’ by Viet Thanh Nguyen - San Francisco Chronicle - November 3, 2023

Feature: Curtis Chin tells the story of his family’s Chinese restaurant and asks, ‘For here or to go?’ - The Boston Globe - October 23, 2023 (paywalled)

Thien Pham - ‘Family Style’ - Kirkus Reviews - July 13, 2023

Feature: How the 2016 election inspired a novel about a 19th-century pirate queen - ‘Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea’ by Rita Chang-Eppig - San Francisco Chronicle - May 26, 2023

Nicole Chung - ‘A Living Remedy’ - Literary Hub - April 5, 2023

Cheuk Kwan - ‘Have You Eaten Yet?’ - Kirkus Reviews - January 8, 2023

K-Ming Chang - ‘Gods of Want’ - Kirkus Reviews - July 17, 2022

Feature: In ‘Gods of Want,’ K-Ming Chang pens wholly original queer myths - San Francisco Chronicle - July 11, 2022

Pyae Moe Thet War - ‘You’ve Changed’ - Kirkus Reviews - May 12, 2022

Kim Sang-Keun - ‘Star Fishing’ - Kirkus Reviews - March 1, 2022

Weike Wang - ‘Joan is Okay’ - Kirkus Reviews - February 2, 2022

Joanna Ho - ‘Eyes That Speak to the Stars’ - Kirkus Reviews - January 23, 2022

Huda Fahmy - ‘Huda F Are You?’ - Kirkus Reviews - November 22, 2021

Anna Qu - ‘Made in China’ - Bitch Media - August 26, 2021

Yoon Choi - ‘Skinship’ - Kirkus Reviews - August 18, 2021

Michelle Zauner - ‘Crying in H Mart’ - Kirkus Reviews - May 1, 2021

Alisson Wood - ‘Being Lolita’ - The Rumpus - August 31, 2020

Frances Cha - ‘If I Had Your Face’ - Asian American Writers’ Workshop - June 18, 2020

Robin Ha - ‘Almost American Girl’ - Bitch Media - April 21, 2020

E. J. Koh - ‘The Magical Language of Others’ - Asian American Writers’ Workshop - March 4, 2020

Krys Lee - ‘How I Became a North Korean’ - NBC News - August 31, 2016

Robin Ha - ‘Cook Korean!’ - NBC News - July 15, 2016

Natasha Trethewey - ‘Native Guard’ - Korea JoongAng Daily - May 5, 2009

Richard Thaler - ‘Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness’ - Korea JoongAng Daily - September 12, 2009

Book Reviews

‘Real Americans’ by Rachel Khong - San Francisco Chronicle - April 28, 2024

‘River East, River West’ by Aube Rey Lescure - The Boston Globe - January 4, 2024 (paywalled)

‘Far from the Rooftop of the World’ by Amy Yee - The Boston Globe - October 17, 2023 (paywalled)

‘Land of Milk and Honey’ by C Pam Zhang - San Francisco Chronicle - September 18, 2023

‘Tomb Sweeping’ by Alexandra Chang - San Francisco Chronicle - August 2, 2023

‘Throwback’ by Maurene Goo - San Francisco Chronicle - April 7, 2023

Critical Essay: ‘Privileging Survivors’ Voices’ on M. Evelina Galang’s ‘Lolas’ House: Filipino Women Living with War,’ Emily Jungmin Yoon’s ‘A Cruelty Special to Our Species’ and Kim Soom’s ‘One Left,’ translated by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton - Ploughshares Blog - March 15, 2022

‘Love in the Big City’ by Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur - Eater - December 9, 2021

‘Trail of Crumbs’ by Kim Sunée - Korea JoongAng Daily - April 12, 2008

‘Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China’ by Jen Lin-Liu - Korea JoongAng Daily - October 25, 2008

‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’ by Haruki Murakami - Korea JoongAng Daily - October 11, 2008

Food Writing

Companion Planting, a zine featuring BIPOC farmers and the crops they grow, commissioned by Kristyn Leach for Second Generation Seeds - a collaboration with Adam Oelsner

Harvest Season Means Midwest Produce and Korean Traditions for Miss Kim - Thrillist - September 8, 2022

If You Don’t Want to Try This at Home: There’s no shame in loving durian at this New York City haven - Asian American Writers’ Workshop - January 22, 2020

Meet the team behind some of NYC’s most inventive Korean restaurants - Eater NY - January 13, 2020

The right way to dumpling crawl through Queens’s multicultural delights - Eater NY - April 10, 2019

How wheat became a staple in China - Goldthread - December 4, 2018

The origins of 5 popular Korean Chinese dishes, illustrated - Goldthread - September 3, 2018

Korean dishes and delights to try in 2018 - Monocle - March 2018

Flavor Profile: Shin Kim of Banchan Story - Eat Drink Draw - December 21, 2016

Serious about globalizing Korean food? Then stop watering it down: Opinion - CNN - November 3, 2011

6 best bingsu to beat the heat - CNN - August 12, 2011

Best noodles in Seoul - CNN - June 13, 2011

Travel Writing

Delta’s meltdown will mean huge payouts for some travelers - Thrillist - August 16, 2016

8 tips for surviving long flights - CNN Business - August 6, 2015

StarCraft II’s biggest champ on what makes Korea a pro-gamer’s paradise - CNN - October 6, 2011

Insa-dong: Art, nostalgia and boho - CNN - June 10, 2011