Behind the Book
3D mock-up of the book cover for Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
In conversationUpcoming

The woman selling kimchi carries a century

with Min Jin Lee — Novelist

Date
Wed, August 19, 2026
Time
local
Venue
Yeonhui Hall, Seoul, KR

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What happens in the room

On over-reporting, historical invisibility, and making a reader in Ohio grieve for a market stallholder in Osaka.

How it went

Interpreted live in Korean and English; both audiences laughed in different places. Episode 119's second half is this night.

About Min Jin Lee

  • National Book Award finalist, 2017
  • New York Times 10 Best Books of 2017
  • Guggenheim Fellowship, 2018

Born in Seoul and raised in Queens, Lee trained as a lawyer before writing full time. She carried Pachinko for nearly thirty years, abandoning a completed draft in her forties after interviews in Tokyo convinced her the story belonged to the women of the family, not the men.

Listen to episode 119 →

Reserve a seat

RSVP for the evening with Min Jin Lee

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Also with Min

3D mock-up of the book cover for Pachinko by Min Jin LeeLive recordingUpcoming

Pachinko · Grand Central, 2017

Thirty years of Pachinko: throwing out a finished novel

with Min Jin Lee — Novelist

National Book Award finalist, 2017

Date
Wed, May 13, 2026
Time
local time
Venue
Asia Society, New York, NY

Min Jin Lee on the draft she abandoned in her forties, and the Tokyo interviews that told her whose story it was.

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3D mock-up of the book cover for Pachinko by Min Jin LeeAwards nightUpcoming

Pachinko · Grand Central, 2017

Behind the Book Awards Night

with Min Jin Lee — Novelist

National Book Award finalist, 2017

Date
Wed, November 18, 2026
Time
local time
Venue
Asia Society, New York, NY
Tickets
Ballot opens 1 October

Our listener-voted awards, with readings from every prize-winning guest of season four.

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