Alumni News

Kim MFA '01 Earns Rave Reviews for Debut Novel

Eugenia Kim MFA '01's recently published debut novel, The Calligrapher's Daughter, has been recommended by critics in The Washington PostVogueThe Christian Science Monitor, and elsewhere.

Eugenia Kim's The Calligrapher's Daughter

The story of a young woman born into an aristocratic Korean family on the eve of the Japanese occupation, King's narrative is "keenly and often lyrically observed," wrote one critic in The Washington Post ... "a satisfying excursion into empathetically rendered lives."

A reviewer in The Christian Science Monitor wrote that "Fans of Lisa See's or Amy Tan's novels should eagerly embrace Najin (King's protagonist), and The Calligrapher's Daughter bids fair to become a staple of book clubs."

Described as "hauntingly beautiful" by the Examiner, the novel was listed as a "Summer's Best Beach Read" by Vogue magazine, and was on Publisher's Weekly top "Fall Firsts" list of 2009.