Writers at Rutgers series hosts poet Monica Youn

Last night, the Rutgers Writers House hosted poet Monica Youn at the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus.

Youn read poetry from her new book, "From From," which is a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry this year.

The title of Youn’s book, "From From," is inspired by the microaggression of people asking where she is truly from. Youn is a daughter of Korean immigrants and grew up in Houston, according to a New York Times book review.

During the event, Youn said that much of her poetry, such as her poem "Midas and Marigold," is inspired by her interest in Greek mythology, specifically how nationalism functions in myth.

"A lot of Greek myth, which we think of as these kind of marble statues, were in fact highly colorized and racialized," Youn said. "A lot of Greek mythology is about defining what it is to be Greek, and a lot of it is at the expense of an 'other.' Often that 'other' is Asian."

Youn read a poem called "In the Passive Voice," which she said details how Asian Americans are pitted against other racial minorities in the U.S., specifically against Black Americans.

In her poem, she references the murder of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old Black girl who was murdered by 49-year-old Korean-American convenience store owner Soon Ja Du. Harlins' murder was one of many killings that sparked the Los Angeles riots of the 1990s, according to NPR.

"I write it thinking about Du Soon Ja, how much anti-Blackness Du Soon Ja must have eaten, drunk, breathed, to have seen an honors student buying orange juice for her grandmother as a threat to her life," Youn read.

Later, during the question-and-answer section of the event, Youn was asked about her inspiration for drawing connections between the Asian American experience and the Black American experience in the U.S.

"There’s often this way in which people try to talk about racial groups in isolation," Youn said. "It becomes what some people refer to as 'oppression olympics' ... That’s not the way race has always worked in this country ... Look at the affirmative action dispute. Why is it that we're arguing about some Asian American students getting in when legacy preferences remain undisturbed?"

After the reading, Youn did a book signing for the students and faculty. Her new book, "From From," was sold along with her older books, "Ignatz," "Blackacre" and "Barter."