American Seoul

"Helena Rho was six years old when her family left Seoul, Korea, for America and its opportunities. Years later, her Korean-ness behind her, Helena had everything a model minority was supposed to want: she was married to a white American doctor and had a beautiful home, two children, and a career as an assistant professor of pediatrics. For decades she fulfilled the expectations of others. All the while Helena kept silent about the traumas--both professional and personal--that left her anxious yet determined to escape. It would take a catastrophic event for Helena to abandon her career at the age of forty, recover her Korean identity, and set in motion a journey of self-discovery"--Publisher marketing.

Helena Rho is a three-time Pushcart Prize-nominated writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Slate, Sycamore Review, Solstice, Entropy, 805 Lit + Art, and the anthologies Rage and Reconciliation and Silence Kills. A former assistant professor of pediatrics, Helena received her doctor of medicine in 1992 and has practiced and taught at top-ten children's hospitals: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. She earned her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh. For more information, visit www.helenarho.com.