How Acclaimed Debut Novelist Jinwoo Park Writes

Award-winning, acclaimed debut novelist Jinwoo Park spoke to me about breaking out of a creative rut, writing as “self-therapy,” cracking the #BookTok code, and his literary espionage thriller OXFORD SOJU CLUB Jinwoo Park is a Korean Canadian writer based in Montreal. He completed a master's degree in creative writing at the University of Oxford, and currently works as a marketer in the tech industry. His first novel, Oxford Soju Club, is a literary espionage thriller exploring themes of identity and the Korean diaspora. Park's manuscript for Oxford Soju Club won the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers' Award in 2021. A Booklist starred review wrote of the book, “In stylistically rich prose, the author carefully portrays complex characters, distilling the intricate workings of the Korean psyche with riveting tension. Under the cover of a compelling espionage drama…” Jinwoo is also a literary translator and received the LTI Korea Translation Award for Aspiring Translators in 2023. [Discover ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Writer Files Extra⁠⁠⁠⁠: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at ⁠⁠⁠⁠writerfiles.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠] [If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please ⁠⁠⁠⁠click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews⁠⁠⁠⁠. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Jinwoo Park and I discussed: How his notes from "self-therapy" became a breakout book Posting to TikTok every day to build a following Sharing a name with a character from K-Pop Demon Hunters In rewriting his debut novel five times to distill it to its essence What authenticity means to him And a lot more! Show Notes: jinwoo-park.com Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park (Amazon) Jinwoo Park on Instagram Jinwoo Park on TikTok Jinwoo Park on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices