We loved covering the entire living room walls with our drawings. (left: my sister, right: me!)
I spent my childhood in both the US and Korea and moved frequently. At one point, I attended three different middle schools in two countries. Adjusting to different cultures wasn’t easy. I felt happiest and safest at home, especially when playing with my sister. Even though our 3.5-year age gap may look significant, we were best friends and still are. We created our own worlds – combining cultures and languages – by drawing, playing, and making up stories. And we loved reading books in both English and Korean.
I’m fully bilingual now, but there was a time when I felt like I couldn’t express myself fully in either language. English was easier for school and work. Korean felt most natural when expressing my deepest emotions. I couldn’t fully belong in either world. I kept my passion for drawing and art in high school and college, but my anxiety about sounding “different” made me distance myself from creative writing.
Sometime in my mid-twenties, I spontaneously visited the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. I drove alone for 1.5 hours from Providence, RI, expecting a short visit. As I was reading their picture book collection, something clicked in me. The simplicity of the words and the beautiful illustrations made me feel warm and comforted. It transported me back to my childhood memories. I spent the entire afternoon in the museum’s library until the closing time. I rediscovered picture books and fell in love with this genre.
I started working on my debut book, The Most Perfect Persimmon, in 2021. I was living in Korea for an extended time then and spent a lot of time with my grandmother. We went for walks, shared stories, and had many tea times together. The experience made me think deeply about our relationship despite living in different countries. It inspired me to create a story about my favorite memory of enjoying the ripened persimmons, hongshis, with her.
Working on this book was an extraordinary experience. It helped me explore my Korean and US identities in new, creative ways. In the bookmaking process, I didn’t restrict myself to one language or a specific form. I prioritized honesty and genuineness over language and form. I loved going back and forth between text, visuals, and two languages throughout the bookmaking process. This journey helped me find a voice uniquely mine.
The Most Perfect Persimmon is my personal experiences and culture weaved into an expressive story. I hope the readers resonate with the feelings and emotions you get when you want to present your best, perfect self to someone you love who you rarely get to see. Joo Hong’s anticipation of seeing her grandmother with her persimmons mirrors my bilingual experience living in two different countries. At the end of the book, Joo Hong learns that sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned, but her journey was meaningful in its own way. I’m excited for young readers to meet Joo Hong, her persimmons, and her family. I hope they enjoy many Korean elements in the book too!
Hannah Chung is an award-winning designer and entrepreneur in health care design for young patients. She is a frequent guest lecturer at universities and has presented at numerous conferences including TEDx and SXSW. Hannah spends her time both in Providence, Rhode Island, and Seoul, South Korea.