E.J. Koh is a winner of the Pleiades Editors Prize for Poetry and author of a recent memoir, "The Magical Language of Others." The memoir is built around letters her mother sent her during her upbringing, when her parents left her and her brother in America to pursue a job in South Korea. One Korean term for this situation is "gireogi gajok" or "geese family," coined because, like geese, the parents similarly migrate seasonally to visit their children. In this episode Eugene and E.J. talk about the generosity of letters and the fundamentally flawed nature of language when it comes to communication even - or especially - within our own families.

This episode is also tied to our COVID-19 Letter Campaign, of which more information can be found on our Instagram or Facebook pages (@DividedFamiliesPodcast). We encourage you to send 5 letters to family and friends during this time to reaffirm our bonds and raise awareness about several COVID-19 funds they can donate to (tinyurl.com/sffwwjh). The recipients should then write letters to five new people, like a chain letter. If you feel so inclined, we'd also love a photo of your letters to share, which you can DM or email to [email protected]

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