The Things We Love

“Oxford Soju Club”: A Thrilling and Moving Novel About Immigration and Identity

August 15, 2025August 15, 2025Book Review, BooksLeave a Comment

Oxford Soju Club, Jinwoo Park‘s debut novel, tells the story of three characters: a North Korean, a South Korean and a Korean American whose lives intersect in intricate and heartbreaking fated ways.

Yohan Kim— “the Northerner,” and Yunah Choi, “the American,” are spies. Jihoon Lim, “the Southerner,” is a young man from Seoul running the “Soju Club,” the Korean restaurant he has opened to keep a connection to his memories and his past. Due to their work and their circumstances, the characters in the book have complex, fluid identities that continuously shift as they try to find their true selves.

Continue reading ➞ “Oxford Soju Club”: A Thrilling and Moving Novel About Immigration and Identity

On Shadows and Influencers

July 2, 2025July 2, 2025Life, Other1 Comment

A few days ago, trying to find some answers about the continued failures of my life, I did a session with an astrologer who read my natal chart—“a picture of the sky when you were born.” I loved it because these sessions usually just confirm things I know or want to be told: “You shine bright and bring light to people with your warmth.” “You are a creator.” “Who took your self-worth?”

After asking this question, which I had never heard before and honestly, caught me off-guard, she said I should do “shadow work” to figure out aspects of myself that I have suppressed or not acknowledged. So, I have been doing that. I found a questionnaire with many prompts, such as: “Who do you envy, and why?” “What are your personal core values?” and “What emotions typically bring out the worst in you, and why do you think this happens?”

Continue reading ➞ On Shadows and Influencers

Memory, Yearning, Loss: Piano in BTS’s “HYYH”

June 15, 2025June 16, 2025Art, BTS, MusicLeave a Comment

Promotional image for *The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2,* BigHit Music.

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, BTS’s monumental series dedicated to the fragile concept of youth, had its 10th anniversary on April 29, 2025.

The series, comprised of the albums The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 2 and the compilation album The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever, also launched the Bangtan Universe, a fictional narrative woven through the albums’ music videos, but also promotional trailers and short films, and later expanded to include a webtoon, a book, and a collection of notes adding details to the story.

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life series marked an evolution for BTS from their hip hop-centred songs and energetic and aggressive delivery to a softer and more poetic sensibility and sound, spearheaded by member SUGA. The piano, which had started to appear in songs like the introspective “Tomorrow” and the jazz-infused “Rain,” from Skool Luv Affair-Special Edition and Dark & Wild, both released in 2014, became more prominent. This pointed to the continuous expansion of their storytelling and musical vocabulary.

Continue reading ➞ Memory, Yearning, Loss: Piano in BTS’s “HYYH”

Celebration and Incantation: j-hope’s ‘Hope On The Stage’

April 16, 2025April 16, 2025BTS, Concert Review, MusicLeave a Comment

j-hope performs during the opening night of the “Hope On The Stage” tour in Seoul, on February 28, 2025. Credit: BigHit Music, j-hope ‘HOPE ON THE STAGE in SEOUL’ Photo Sketch

On the stage, as part of BTS, j-hope has a spellbinding energy. In “Hope On The Stage,” his first solo world tour across the US, Mexico, and multiple stops across Asia, this energy feels like it has been magnified by several degrees. The tour marks his return to the stage after completing his mandatory military service in South Korea, an extremely significant moment of reunion, renewal and growth for any artist.

Continue reading ➞ Celebration and Incantation: j-hope’s ‘Hope On The Stage’

“Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir” by Danny Ramadan

February 17, 2025February 17, 2025Book Review, Books, Reading, WritingLeave a Comment

Danny Ramadan came to Canada as a refugee 10 years ago. Though the identity he assumed after this event is what gives its name to his new book, Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir, becoming a refugee is but a small part of Ramadan’s story.

I first encountered Ramadan through his piece “Speak my Tongue” which appeared in the 2021 essay collection Tongues: On Longing and Belonging through Language. His essay was so striking that I became immediately fascinated with his voice. Reading his memoir was a reminder of the indelible impression his essay left on me.

Continue reading ➞ “Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir” by Danny Ramadan

From BookTok to debut novel “Oxford Soju Club,” Jinwoo Park spreads the love of books and Korean literature

January 30, 2025Books, Current events, News, Interview, Reading, WritingLeave a Comment

When South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol suddenly declared martial law on the evening of December 3, 2024, the country plunged into uncertainty and chaos. Extraordinary images of Korean citizens congregating outside of the National Assembly building filled the news. Six hours later, thanks to the heroic efforts of lawmakers who protected the National Assembly and held a vote in the middle of the night rejecting it, Yoon’s martial law declaration was lifted.

On TikTok, Jinwoo Park started releasing videos explaining the fast-moving situation, adding context and nuance to the news coming through regular media channels. The videos helped convey the shocking and historical nature of Yoon’s actions but also showed the deep connection Park maintains with South Korean politics, history, and culture.

Continue reading ➞ From BookTok to debut novel “Oxford Soju Club,” Jinwoo Park spreads the love of books and Korean literature

Anton Hur’s “Toward Eternity”: A universe made of poetry

September 30, 2024January 10, 2025Book Review, BooksLeave a Comment

When I was an undergrad in university, in one of my art history or philosophy classes, I can’t remember exactly—we were given an assignment to write about depth: How would we represent it? How would we define it? I was extremely intrigued, but ultimately, I chose the alternate topic to write about because I was too intimidated. The one thing I could picture when I thought about depth was a blank page, a blank space, a white void. I pictured the end of things, the final understanding, when all the universe’s secrets are finally revealed. It sounded like death because perhaps that is the only state where we can see the totality of what it means to be alive.

The ending of Anton Hur’s English novel debut, Toward Eternity, reminded me of this assignment. Elegant and economical at 244 pages, this novel asks enormous questions and, sublimely, achieves something that feels like an answer at the end of all things: the arrival at some final understanding.

Continue reading ➞ Anton Hur’s “Toward Eternity”: A universe made of poetry

Interview—Phillip Phillips: embracing family life, artistic vulnerability and independence

August 2, 2024Interview, MusicLeave a Comment

If you have been following Phillip Phillips’s career for a while, you know he is intensely private, humble, funny, and the embodiment of determination. But fans of his music know that underneath his jovial and relaxed demeanour lies an artist of a deep and quiet sensitivity who is not afraid to explore the more painful and confounding aspects of life, ambition, love and relationships.

Continue reading ➞ Interview—Phillip Phillips: embracing family life, artistic vulnerability and independence

Bristol Lightning tastes all the flavours of Americana

July 5, 2024Interview, MusicLeave a Comment

Blake Collins, Dave Eggar, and Phil Faconti of Bristol Lightning. Credit: Bristol Lightning Instagram

Bristol Lightning, a brilliant new ensemble of virtuoso musicians from Bristol, Tennessee, is bridging history and culture through bluegrass music that transcends genre expectations and rules. Their first EP, Bristol Lightning, was released on June 28. The four songs, part of a planned full album for later this year, are rich, vibrant, and evocative; a sound so fresh that a couple of them, reworkings of popular classical music pieces, feel like a musical rebirth.

The music mirrors the story of how the band came together. For two of the members, Dave Eggar and Phil Faconti, Bristol Lightning marks a new personal and musical beginning.

Continue reading ➞ Bristol Lightning tastes all the flavours of Americana