Q&A With Margaret Juhae Lee 

Margaret Juhae Lee is the author of Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History whom I’m delighted to be doing this Q&A with today! Margaret was previously an editor for the Books and the Arts section at The Nation Magazine. Her articles, book reviews and interviews have been published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Advocate, The Progressive & recently in The Rumpus & Ploughshares Blog. Margaret was also a contributing writer at Oakland Magazine. 

Q: Margaret would you please give a brief description of your memoir, Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History? 

A: Starry Field chronicles my search for information about my grandfather, Lee Chul Ha, who protested Japanese rule as a student revolutionary in colonial Korea and died when my father was a baby. At the heart of the book is the testimony of my grandmother, Min Kum Soon, who initially didn’t want to talk about her life, but relented when I told her it was for my career. I conducted three long-form interviews with her which form the pillars of my book. A combination of investigative journalism, oral history and archival research, Starry Field is a tale of self-discovery written for my children, so they will grow up with the family stories I did not have access to in my own childhood. 

Q: How long did it take you to write Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History? Why was now the right time to write and release it?

A: It took over 25 years. I started as a graduate student in journalism at NYU in the late 1990s. I had an agent early on, before I traveled to Korea in 2000 in search of my grandfather’s prison and interrogation records. My agent ended up leaving the business, which was heartbreaking at the time, but now I can look back and realize that it was a blessing. I needed all of those years to let all of my research seep in and become part of my being. I needed that time to understand what the book was really about. My only regret is that my parents passed away before it was published. 

Q: If you are currently writing your next book now, will it be another memoir, or will your next book be fiction this time around?

A: I have been working on another book off and on for years. It’s memoir-ish, a meditation on the legacy of grief and how it lives in your body. I’m not quite sure what the structure is yet. A memoir-in-essays, an experimental work of creative nonfiction, an incantation? We will see. 

I’m eager to get back to writing again. I recently finished my book tour and am still in book promotion mode—attending book festivals and organizing university talks. My eldest is going off to college this fall, so I’m hoping to dive back into writing after he launches. 

Q: What lessons do you hope readers learn after reading Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History? What emotions do you hope readers feel after reading Starry Field?

A: I really have no expectations of what people take away from reading Starry Field. I’m just happy that it exists as an object and that people are reading it. 

That said, one of the most satisfying parts of writing this book is receiving feedback from readers. So many have told me that the book has opened their eyes to the complicated history of Korea. Others have been inspired to delve into their own family histories. One young Korean American person I met at a reading told me that they were reading the book with their immigrant parents, in order to normalize the process of talking about the past in their family. At another reading, my cousin and his family showed up unannounced. I hadn’t seen him in almost twenty years and had never met his wife and child. These moments have moved me deeply.

Q: What was your experience like being an editor for the Books and the Arts section at The Nation Magazine? 

A: It was an amazing experience and provided such an education for me. Like I say in the book, it was the perfect place for the granddaughter of a Communist revolutionary to work. I wonder if my grandfather read The Nation or at least knew about it, since it was published during his lifetime (The Nation dates back to 1865). I look back on those years so fondly and especially appreciate my mentors there—John and Sue Leonard and Art Winslow. I also met my book editor Carl Bromley at The Nation in the late 1990s. He went on to work in publishing at the New Press and Melville House, who published Starry Field. 

Q: What was it like having your articles, book reviews and interviews published in The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Advocate, The Progressive & recently in The Rumpus & Ploughshares Blog? It sounds like a dream come true!

A: My first piece of paid journalism was a book review in The Progressive back in the mid-1990s, when I was working at an art museum. That review led to other articles and writing opportunities, which I enjoyed much more than my actual job as a curatorial assistant. The experience of writing articles inspired me to change my career to journalism. I continued freelancing in grad school at NYU and while I was the assistant literary editor at The Nation. 

I’ve continued to freelance, although it has never been my main source of income. Most recently, I’ve focused on author interviews forThe Rumpus and Ploughshares blog and articles related to the writing process. It’s still a thrill to see my byline after all these years. I hope to keep on writing articles into the future. 

Q: What is your advice for anyone wanting to submit work in publications such as The Nation, Newsday, Elle, ARTnews, The Advocate, The Progressive & The Rumpus & Ploughshares Blog? What is the submission process like?

A: My advice is to get to know the publications to which you are pitching to and have a clear idea of how your article would best fit in their coverage. For example, if you would like to write a book review, look to see what types of books they review and how your point of view would appeal to their audience. I always find it helpful to put yourself into the mind of the editor when crafting a pitch. Also, do your homework and check if the publication has specific guidelines on how to pitch. Many do. Also, some editors will ask for pitches on social media, although this is not as common as it used to be with the demise of Twitter. 

Q:  What was your experience of being a contributing writer at Oakland Magazine like?

A: I loved being a contributing writer! I wrote a monthly column called “East Bay Made,” where I interviewed area makers about their craft and how they grew their creative businesses. I met fashion designers, watchmakers, shoemakers, jewelry designers, herbalists, industrial designers, painters, ceramicists, chefs, printmakers—the list goes on. Each person had such an amazing story to tell about how they married their creative pursuit to a money-making venture and how they maintained their artistic spark during the process. It was my favorite journalism gig ever. I only wish Oakland Magazine survived the pandemic.