Drifting House

by Krys Lee

  When the soybean curd man outside keens his sales song, it is dark. She wraps her mother’s sheets around her shoulders like a shroud, and lies on the ground. She has washed and tried to cleanse herself, tried to wipe the memory of Junho’s hands and lips from her lips, from her breasts, but there is still Junho on her skin, in her hair, under the crests of her fingernails. Mina will not let the story end this way. Tomorrow she will go to school and act as if she is somehow still the same person. She will look for her mother. But tonight she waits on the cold floor, certain that what is lost will return.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  My deepest gratitude goes to my editors, Kathryn Court and Allison Lorentzen at Penguin Group (USA) and Sarah Savitt at Faber and Faber UK. Their creativity, collaborative instinct, and passion for books have made this journey a pleasure. I’m also indebted to the staffs at Viking and Faber and Faber, who have been tireless in their support. My love and thanks to my indefatigable agent, Susan Golomb, whose faith in my work, kindness, and ability to think like a writer have made all the difference.

  I want to thank my early teachers and mentors, Stephen Yenser, Ross Shideler, Heather McHugh, Hugh Houghton, Hermione Lee, Tom Jenks, and Carol Edgarian. Without this early support, I would never have dared consider myself a writer. The learning and community in the MFA program at Warren Wilson College were invaluable. In particular, I’m grateful to Peter Turchi, Ellen Bryant Voight, Lan Samantha Chang, Jane Hamilton, Grace Mazur, David Haynes, Victor LaValle, Robin Black, Aneesha Kapur, Robert Rorke, Rachel Howard, Allison Paige, Katie Bowler, Ross White, Ed Porter, Mark Prudowsky, Matthew Specktor, Bora Reed, and Larissa Amir, and to Abby Wender for her friendship, her incredible poems, and her way of being.

  The organizations that support writers gave me resolve and a community. Thank you to the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and to Narrative magazine and The Kenyon Review for taking a chance on a new writer.

  The manuscript readings by Sunil Rao, Kira Obolensky, Michael David Lukas, Kim Stoker, and early readers Charlie Kang, Chris Causey, Mark Lee, and Peter Kipp helped the writing experience be a little less lonely. Thanks to Heeyoung Kim for her fact checking; David Kim and Katherine Lee for their expertise; Christine Zilka for her friendship and her example; Jenny Whitney, Beth Lee, Colin Cavendish-Jones, Camilla Jorgensen, Margareta Wilhelmsson, and Tiziana Bertinotti for their love and support; Tanya Gibson, my AWP buddy and fellow dreamer; Steve Kim, who has seen me through the entire journey; Shirley Park and her family for their love and help; Heidi Snyder and family, wherever they are; girlfriends Linda Kwon, Suyoon Ko, Sora ­Kim-­Russell, and Tammy Chu, who keep me company in Seoul; Doualy Xaokaothao, who has pulled me through more than once; Jean Lee for sharing her creative energy; Steve Herman, supporter and friend; John Glionna for being unpredictable; and Kyemyeong Lee for keeping me hopeful and sane. My love and respect to my activist friends, and to all my North Korean defector friends who have given me a family.