Min Jin Lee's good fortune
She grew up with the stereotypes of Koreans as hard-working and studious people.
As an adult, she was shocked to discover that in Japan, Koreans were viewed as dirty, stupid and likely to be criminals involved in the gambling business known as Pachinko.
Min Jin had wanted to write about the experience of Koreans living in Japan since being deeply troubled by what she heard about it as a young person.
After living in Tokyo for a number of years she was able to realise the characters for her highly awarded novel, an epic family saga set in Japan.
Further information
Pachinko is published by Head of Zeuss.
Original broadcast August 2019.
This conversation was recorded at the 2019 Byron Writers Festival.
Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.
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