“What Stacy Kim understands, and what took me too long to appreciate myself, is that our darkest emotions often shed the most light. ENVY makes a rigorous, wise, and compassionate case that the feeling high achievers are most ashamed to admit may offer one of the clearest signals of what they truly want.”

— Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE POWER OF REGRET and DRIVE

We all want things that other people have. It’s natural, yet we are ashamed of how it makes us feel—a mix of inferiority, ill will, and injustice. In the West, we’re told “Comparison is the thief of joy,” and taught to avoid this “deadly sin.” Meanwhile, in Korea, people publicly make social comparisons and express their envy.

Drawing on how Koreans used their envy of Japan to transform a war-torn country into a pop-culture powerhouse, Dr. Stacy S. Kim teaches us that when we examine our envy, we can learn what we want, whom to emulate, and how to get it. ENVY: WHY WANTING WHAT THEY HAVE IS THE KEY TO GETTING WHAT YOU WANT is for those of us who do everything we can to build our best life yet still find ourselves feeling behind or unfulfilled. Thanks to social media and smartphones, we can experience this negative emotion at any hour, anywhere, and the feeling remains largely buried and unspoken. But through stories, interviews, and research, Dr. Kim provides concrete strategies on how to convert unexamined reckless use of envy into a guiding force and powerful motivator.

In a conversation with Hyeseung Song, Dr. Kim discusses her new book and research.

Penguin Random House, 1745 Broadway (between 55th & 56th Streets), Toni Morrison Room, 3rd floor, NYC

$20 for WMG members and partner organizations; $25 for non-members; $10 for active Scholars

What happens when memoir becomes a lens rather than a destination?

Today's most compelling memoirs don't stop at the author's story. They use personal experience as a doorway into larger questions about family, culture, history, psychology, science, identity, and the world around us.

In Memoir Plus, writers whose books expand beyond traditional memoir into reporting, research, exploration, cultural criticism, and other forms of narrative nonfiction will discuss how personal stories can illuminate universal themes. How do writers move beyond "what happened to me" to create work that resonates more broadly? Where is the line between memoir and narrative nonfiction, and does that distinction still matter?

Join moderator Estelle Erasmus and panelists Regina Brooks, Laura Carney, Hyeseung Song, and Bethany Saltman for a lively conversation about the possibilities of memoir and the power of personal stories that contain multitudes.

Join authors Caroline Choe, Jimin Han, Patricia Park and me, for a discussion on food, books and memory, on Saturday, October 3rd, in Katonah. RSVP and more info here.

Meet authors Caroline Choe, Jimin Han, Patricia Park and Hyeseung Song at Brooklyn Cider House’s first ever Korea Festival, coming to Twin Star Orchards in New Paltz, New York, from noon to 6 PM on September 19. Tickets available here.

Sunshine Colony and Jesse Sposato present Story Swap, a Book Swap and Sale sponsored by Shelf Care and The Hound Books (2-5 PM) followed by readings by Hyeseung Song, Jesse Sposato, Melisse Gelula and Wayne Hoffman, at the Sunshine Colony in Livingston Manor.

I love libraries! Please join Melisse Gelula and me at the Callicoon Branch of the Western Sullivan Public Library on Saturday, April 25th at noon to talk memoir :) Free to attend, registration requested (scan QR code in the flyer).

Growing Up Immigrant: Komerican Pie’s Online Salon with Author Hyeseung Song on Tuesday, January 27 at 7 PM ET on Zoom. Registration here.

Sessions at Towson University:

Finding and Building Your Writing Community with Athena Dixon, Hyeseung Song, Annie Marfheka at 10:15 AM

Writing Your Memoir: Whose Story Is it with Hyeseung Song and Sarah Perrty at 1:30 PM

More info here.

Tipsy Bee Author Spelling Bee on September 18, from 6-8 PM, at Francis Kite Club in New York City. With Abraham Chang, Erin Crosby Eckstine, Jakob Guanzon, Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, Elyse Graham, and Danny Goodman defending against reigning champ Hyeseung Song. Thanks to Kerri Schlottman, Jeff Waxman, and Julie Wernersbach of Hive Mind Books! Eventbrite link here.

Hyeseung Song leads the discussion of Jeannie Vanasco’s third memoir A SILENT TREATMENT, at P&T Knitwear on the Lower East Side.

At Jake’s Dilemma on the Upper West Side.

Hyeseung Song in conversation with Elissa Altman, the author of PERMISSION, at Hudson Valley Books for Humanity.

Hyeseung Song in conversation with Annabelle Tometich, the author of The Mango Tree, at Print in Portland, Maine.

“Two Korean American Debut Authors on Writing Immigrant Daughters and the Path Towards Authenticity," a talk with Hyeseung Song and Rosa Kwon Easton, author of White Mulberry.

Philadelphia launch of the Docile paperback with Eshani Surya, author of the forthcoming Ravishing, at Head House. For tickets please see this link.

At Kingston, NY’s Rough Draft, with Veena Dinavahi (The True Happiness Company), Leah Konen (The Last Room on the Left), and Laura van den Berg (State of Paradise).

With Megha Majumdar, Katie Kitamura, Qian Julie Wang and Vicky Nguyen: a Women's Media Group's panel, celebrating AANHPI Storytellers at Penguin Random House (1745 Broadway, between 55th & 56th Streets). Ticket link here.

A Showing of the Film AMERICAN FICTION, followed by an expert panel of publishers, at Woodstock Town Hall Theatre.

Hosted by Magazine editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, Open Secrets Live is a one-day personal storytelling event featuring Open Secrets Magazine contributors, essayists, memoirists, and storytellers working on topics like relationships, family, identity, LGBTQIA life, mental health, and work. Tickets available here.

Khaholi Bailey, Haley Dix, Hyeseung Song and Dena Igusti at From Here to Sunday at 567 Union Street, Brooklyn.

Whether they’re writing memoir or fiction inspired by their lives, authors often have a huge hurdle to overcome first: feeling permitted to share their stories, and those of others. It can be a matter of shyness, shame, concern over possibly implicating and upsetting others—and in some cases, fear of legal liability. In this panel, inspired by Elissa Altman’s wonderful new memoir/craft book, Permission: The New Memoirist and the Courage to Create, we’ll discuss all of the above. Participating will be Altman; Hyeseung Song, author of Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl; Jonathan Lerner, author of Performance Anxiety: The Headlong Adolescence of a Mid-Century Kid. The panel will be moderated by Sari Botton, author of And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo, and editor of both Oldster Magazine and Memoir Land, the latter of which is dedicated to all aspects of first-person writing. Part of Woodstock Bookfest, at Woodstock Community Center at 56 Rock City Road in Woodstock, NY.