Coming Home with Margaret Juhae Lee

In this week’s episode we sit down with Margaret Juhae Lee, author of Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, and explore what it truly means to come home—to a place, to a history, and to oneself. Margaret’s journey began as an exploration of her grandfather’s past, but along the way, it became something much deeper: a reclamation of identity, heritage, and belonging.

Originally conceived as a journalistic exploration, her book evolved into something far more personal. Margaret shares how tracing her ancestry helped her understand where she comes from, and is a gift for her children, giving them a foundation that honors the past while making space for the future.

This conversation is about finding home within ourselves, embracing the stories that shape us, and carrying them forward with intention.

Bio:

Margaret Juhae Lee is the author of Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History, which was published in 2024. A former editor at The Nation magazine, she received a Bunting Fellowship from Harvard University and a Korean Studies Fellowship from the Korea Foundation. She attended the Tin House and Writer’s Hotel writing workshops and was awarded residences at Ragdale, Mesa Refuge, Anderson Center and the Mineral School. Her articles have been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, Writer's Digest and The Rumpus. She lives in Oakland with her family and Brownie, a rescue dog from Korea.