What do you want to do with your life? It’s a question that everyone gets asked time and time again throughout their lifetime. It’s a question that Ann Y. K. Choi asked one of her students back in 2007, only to have it asked right back at her. Without hesitating, she knew her answer. She wanted to write. It was as simple as that.
With the challenge to write something having been set, Ann revisited an old project of hers and she brought new life back into that research. It took her five years before she finished the first draft of what was to become “Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety”, her first novel about a teenage Korean immigrant named Mary Hwang who deals with life in Toronto as her family runs their convenience store in the 1980s. Readers first meet Mary when she’s fifteen years old and they are quickly immersed in her life behind the counter as they watch Mary grow. While trying to figure out who she is as a person, Mary is also figuring out how to adapt to the new society around her where she’s stuck between two cultures. Readers see Mary deal with all kinds of relationships; familial bonds, friendships and romances. And we also see Mary deal with many obstacles and milestones that life throws at her like educational pursuits, familial crises and conflicting romances. “I really wanted this to be an authentic story,” Ann Y.K. Choi stated, “and I also wanted to write what I knew.” Write what you know. It’s one saying that many authors have used time and time again. For Ann, she put her own spin to that piece of advice.
A Korean immigrant herself, Ann Y. K. Choi came to Canada from Chung-Ju, South Korea in 1975. Much like her protagonist, Ann lived above a variety store where she experienced life behind the convenience store counter on-and-off for 30 years. Ann later on went to study at the University of Toronto where she studied English, Sociology and Education. During her time as an undergraduate, Ann conducted a bunch of interviews with fellow Korean immigrant woman of her age for a sociology project. Many common trends (ie: depression, anxiety, motherly conflicts, domestic abuse, struggles with cultural expectations) had appeared in her interview research and it startled her how similar these issues were among these young Korean women. This project left enough of a lasting impression on Ann to have her return to those findings a decade later when she started writing her first book. “For many, many years I had these voices lingering inside my head, demanding to be let out,” Ann described when she explained how she picked her sociology project as her inspiration for her first book.
So when it came to creating her protagonist, Ann compiled her research from her sociology project until she created fifteen year old Mary Hwang as her leading lady. “Mary is really not me,” Ann clarified, “She really is a compilation of a lot of voices.” Through Mary, Ann tells this coming of age story that shows its readers how this young Korean teenager handles life in Toronto as she figures out her identity in this country and within her family while helping out at her family’s variety store. Through Mary’s eyes, the readers experience what it was like to grow up in Toronto in the 1980s and just what Mary truly had to deal with as an immigrant in Canada. “If I’m gonna write one book, I might as well be completely honest,” Ann exclaimed, “And I certainly struggled with mental health as a teenager and as a young adult.” The honesty truly paid off for Ann when she incorporated that personal experience into her work because the raw emotion expressed within Mary in regards to those deep dark secrets truly gives her character more life and it allows for the readers to connect to her character no matter if they are a Korean immigrant or not. On some level, everyone is experiencing something that Mary is going through and “Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety” is one way to get the conversation started about it.
While working on her first draft for "Kay's Lucky Coin Variety", Ann also graduated from the Humber School of Writers and from the Creative Writing Certificate Program at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies. "I realized very quickly that I didn't necessarily know how to write," Ann commented about why she continued her studies, "I am blown away by how much I continue to learn in spite of all those years of studying." The first draft was actually presented to a panel just before she completed her certificate program at the University of Toronto. It was a requirement for program completion. After this panel, Ann was actually declared the 2012 winner of the Marina Nemat Award which is awarded to the top completed manuscript of the certificate program. Ann’s winnings didn’t stop at that award. Phyllis Bruce (the editor of HarperCollins Publishers LLC at the time) was part of the panel that evaluated Ann’s manuscript and she showed great interest in Ann’s creation. “I got lucky,” Ann humbly admitted, “She [Phyllis] asked me if I wanted to publish with her.” Before contracts were drawn for this partnership at HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Phyllis Bruce had quit and gone to work for Simon & Schuster Canada. Fortunately for Ann, Phyllis Bruce took her manuscript to Simon & Schuster. “For me, because Phyllis Bruce (an editor who received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian literature),” Ann praised when asked about the moment she was approached about a publishing offer, “It was more important for me to work with her than to be with the publisher.” And the deal was set for Ann as she was signed with Simon & Schuster Canada in 2013. “I wrote in the darkness for so many years and then boom, I sign with a big publisher,” Ann stated with a light laugh about her own amazement on how things worked out. Now she was one step closer to getting her literary creation out there for others to enjoy.
Soon Ann found herself in a phase of intense revision that lasted for two years as she turned her first draft meant for her enjoyment into a final draft meant for everyone to enjoy. “Working on the revision is when you start thinking about your audience,” Ann explained after mentioning the amazing team that helped her with the revisions, “I suddenly became very conscious of my audience being non-Korean.” Something as simple as a character’s name was brought up during revisions as the non-Korean audience needed to be taken into account when considering the significance behind a name. Outside the Korean culture, a name is just a name that is either picked because it sounded nice or because there was a symbolic meaning behind it. The process to pick a name in Korean culture means much more than that as the process has the family call upon the ancestors to help decide which name will best represent the newborn that has been blessed upon this Earth. It’s a topic that Mary always draws comparisons to in the book. Here’s an excerpt from “Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety” that first demonstrates the importance of names:
“My parents used to delight in telling people I was nameless for weeks after being born, as my grandfather consulted with ancestral spirits over the right name. A name, like a picture, was worth a thousand words. It was a single-word poem that defined a person. I was only four years old when I told my mother I hated my name. She scolded me. “You have a beautiful name. Names must be treated as sacred. Your reputation will one day be built on it.” When Josh was born a year later, twice as much effort went into finding his name.” (Pg. 19; Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety)
So after two years of revision collaborations from her trusting writing circle and revision team, Ann ended up with a manuscript that surprised her. “You don’t know what you don’t know,” Ann started, “So the final story did take turns in ways I didn’t anticipate.” When authors write for themselves, they initially have a set picture of where their story is going to go while dealing with all the other aspects behind bringing that story to life. If someone else were to read that same story, they provide a new perspective on the piece without any of the author’s background ideas interfering therefore they could pick up on something that was initially overlooked by the author. “You cannot write something alone,” Ann stressed before mentioning how feedback is crucial after that first draft of a project is complete.
“Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety” was finally released to the public on May 3, 2016.
Ann is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Degree in Creative Writing at National University in San Diego, California. “I wanted to network with American writers because I’ve connected with so many Canadians,” Ann explained in regards to her choice in enrolling into a university so far from home. Ann is about half way through completing the first draft of her second book which is also her thesis for her MFA. Not much was said about the premise of her second book except that it features a polygamous relationship in the 1920s of Korea and the ramifications behind that for all parties involved.
When asked for any advice that she could share with aspiring authors, Ann quickly debunked the advice of writing every day; “It’s too much pressure. I think you write when you want to, write when you can but don’t write every day because then it becomes a chore.” Ann also suggested leaving your isolated writing space and exposing yourself to people and materials to help you learn more. Ann said to “just leave the room and allow yourself to be vulnerable.” When it comes to writing, dive deep within because something amazing will come from it.
So when it comes down to it, “Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety” is a must-read novel that portrays an authentic experience through a young Korean immigrant who is coming into her own as she decides for herself how she wants to live out her life in a new world. Ann Y. K. Choi’s portrayal of the cultural struggles that Mary faces as well as the struggles she faces as a maturing young woman are truly mesmerizing as the readers see Mary overcome whatever comes at her on this journey. Ann Y. K. Choi is an author to keep your eyes open for because many amazing things will come from her in the future.
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This was published for AsianWave Magazine.
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