Yoon Chung

Yoon Chung is an emerging writer based in South Korea. Her works are forthcoming in bioStories and Hobart. She studies intimacy at her desk and Comparative Literature in college.

Yoon has been writing in English since she was seven – partly because her mom gave her pocket money for the good pieces, and partly because she liked the feeling of typing fast on her dad’s laptop. What started as a way to keep up her English after returning to Busan from Seattle grew into a hobby, then a dream, then a habit.

She only started writing short diary entries and poems in Korean after graduating high school. She has no definite goals or plans for her few drafts in Korean, but who knows. Although she is more comfortable with writing in English than Korean, she has never lost touch with her native language as a writer. It’s a good refresher to write in a different language now and again, or because she lives in Korea, some events and the emotions they evoke are more translatable into Korean.

Q: If you could travel back in time, which of the great writers would you like to meet and why?

A: Charles Dickens. My writing tends to center around two individuals and their relationship, so I have no idea how he managed to juggle so many memorable characters in one story. Any tips?

Q: Do you have a lucky writing talisman? If so, what is it?

A: My laptop plastered all over with stickers from museums, bookstores, cafes, and restaurants. Not exactly a talisman, but I’ve been writing with it for over three years now and I’m just hoping it won’t break down for a long, long time.

Q: Is there a book that you keep going back to, and if so, how many times have you read it?

A: There are so many. I’ve read the Lord of the Rings trilogy like five times and The Picture of Dorian Gray four times. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, three times each. Demian and Call Me By Your Name, twice and counting. There are lots of others I’ve read only once but would like to read again.

Q: What superpower would you like to have and why?

A: Teleportation. I’ll only use my legs when I’m walking by the beach or strolling through the woods. I most definitely do NOT want mind-reading.