By Teresa Acosta, March 4, 2025
Author and musician Michelle Zauner shared insights, tears and one secret to hundreds at Cal Poly Pomona during her conversation and book signing event held by the Office of Student Success, Equity and Innovation and the First Year Experience committee Feb. 27.
The event was part of the Common Read program, and this year’s book selection was “Crying in H Mart,” a memoir about Zauner’s search for her individual Korean American identity while dealing with the illness and eventual death of her mother.
According to Zauner, it took five years of writing off and on to finish the book, and she started by writing 1,000 words a day until she reached her publisher’s goal of 80,000 words. Zauner said creative work was an essential part of her grieving process.
“It was the way that the story came out of me naturally,” Zauner said. “And it took shape through revisions.”
Another essential part of Zauner’s process was getting back in touch with her identity through food. She told the story of how she passed up therapy to work through the grief and instead used the $100 a week to buy good-quality food. Learning to cook Korean food was therapeutic for her.
Cooking and spending a year abroad in Korea helped Zauner feel more comfortable being Korean American. She talked about how fortunate she was to have that experience, and she encouraged everyone in attendance to take the opportunity to travel if it ever presents itself.
Zauner is also the guitarist, vocalist and primary songwriter for the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. The band had been together for about five years before Zauner started writing the memoir.
Although she studied creative writing and film production at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, Zauner credits her time with the band for giving her the false confidence to write a book.
“It gave me confidence in my own voice,” Zauner said.
Zauner’s voice was something that resonated with many in attendance, from the lyrics of the songs to the words in the book.
As part of the Reading, Advising, and Mentoring Program’s book club, Kevin Chen, an agricultural science alumnus, read “Crying in H Mart” last year in the fall.
“I really related so much with what Michelle had to go through growing up,” Chen said. “Even though I don’t have that much of a mended relationship with my mother, I still relate to Michelle.”
During the open Q&A, most people expressed gratitude for the way Zauner showed vulnerability throughout the book and their love of her music.
Andrew Campbell, whose brother, Aidan Campbell, is a sociology student at CPP, brought Zauner to tears with the heartfelt appreciation he detailed during his time at the microphone.
“As a mixed-race person, this book made a lot of years of my life make sense, and I cried when listening to it,” Andrew Campbell said. “It just brought a lot of negative experiences back into my mind but then put them in a light that I could learn to accept them and not only be OK with who I am but use it to fuel what I want to do creatively and professionally.”
After writing about grief for the albums “Psychopomp” and “Soft Sounds from Another Planet,” and “Crying in H Mart,” Zauner wrote jubilee, which she said was the complete opposite of these.
“I was giving myself permission for the first time to feel joy after many years of grieving,” Zauner said.
The albums take on a cyclical route, Zauner explained, by going from songs about melancholy to ones about joy, and with her new album, “For Melancholy Brunettes,” releasing March 21, she dives back into sadness.
“After touring an album about joy for three years, I’m ready to feel sad again,” Zauner said.
The very last person at the microphone expressed her disappointment after learning Los Angeles wasn’t getting a show date as part of the next album tour, to which Zauner whispered, with a hand covering the side of her mouth, “You will,” and “Don’t tell anybody.”
Feature image courtesy of Bryan Doan
*Contributions from Bryan Doan*