Crystal Hana Kim

Growing up, I fluctuated between wanting to modify my looks and embracing them.

I'm not writing necessarily for an audience. I think about the audience at the end, once I have a complete book. But, when I'm writing it, I really need to feel like I'm learning, and I'm investigating something that I'm personally interested in.

My grandmother lived under Japanese colonial rule until she was nine. Korea, still united and whole, was colonized in 1910. During this period of forced occupation, Japanese teachers taught Korean students how to view the world through their imperialist language, their history, their foreign tongue.

Summer in Seoul is full of thick heat that clings to your neck, the back of your knees.

When I was in the second grade, I learned that I looked different from my classmates.

I came from a practical family. The idea of being a writer seemed impossible to me.

As a Korean American, I grew up yearning to see actors that looked like me. On the rare occasions I saw an Asian celebrity, I adored them unflaggingly.

I love books where you can fall in love with the character. And when I say fall in love, I don't mean to be so enraptured by them but to know them really deeply.

Memory warps and stretches and shifts to fit the strictures of your life.

I don't know if it's unique, but I know many Korean American people of my generation who want to know about their grandparents' lives in Korea, but their family members won't tell them because it's too painful. But my grandmother is just a natural storyteller, and she very openly spoke about really difficult times in her life.

As a major feature film with Asian Americans in leading roles, 'Crazy Rich Asians' is important. We hope that this movie will be our 'Black Panther,' announcing to Hollywood that we are here, we belong, and we are ready for more.

Words have power, and especially in the realm of beauty, how we speak about ourselves is important.