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The Wanderer's Curse x Gentle Foods Book Launch & Reception
The Wanderer's Curse x Gentle Foods
Book Launch & Reception
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Philbrook Museum of Art
2727 S. Rockford Rd, Tulsa, OK 74114
7:00 - 8:00 PM
Doors Open at 6:30 PM
FREE AND OPEN TO ALL
REGISTER ONLINE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-wanderers-curse-x-gentle-foods-tickets-1357991131029?aff=oddtdtcreator
Tulsa Artist Fellowship and Magic City Books present a free book launch with Jennifer Hope Choi, celebrating her debut The Wanderer’s Curse. Held at Philbrook Museum of Art, the evening features a conversation between Choi and chef/writer Christina Chaey (Gentle Foods), plus inspired bites by Chaey reflecting themes from the book.
The Wanderer’s Curse will be published by W. W. Norton & Company on May 6, 2025 and will be available for sale at Magic City Books. You can pre-order a copy online at: https://magiccitybooks.square.site/product/the-wanderer-s-curse-jennifer-hope-choi/3373
ABOUT THE WANDERER'S CURSE
When Jennifer Hope Choi first stumbled upon the “curse” known as yeokmasal—an allegedly inheritable affliction causing one to roam farther and farther from home—she immediately consulted her mother. “Oh yeah,” Umma quipped. “I have that.” Technically this wasn’t a revelation. Since 2007, the no-nonsense open-heart surgery nurse had moved suddenly from the Golden State to the Last Frontier, shuttling over the next decade through seven states.
For much of her adulthood, Choi had fancied herself nothing like her immigrant mother, late-blooming vagabond spirit and all—until life in Brooklyn imploded, spurring her to relocate to South Carolina and reckon with startling truths. Artmaking had left her in debt, single, and jobless. Questions hovered, gathering ragged like fractus clouds: Was it time to give up writing? Would she ever have a place of her own to call home? Or was she doomed to bunk up with Umma in the Deep South indefinitely?
This probing memoir follows Choi through her many former homes, from a crumbling Chinatown tenement to a haunted museum in Georgia. Connections emerge, between her curious trajectory and idiosyncratic Korean identity narratives: a mystical Korean dog breed, pro golfers, modern Korean cults, the four pillars of destiny, and Korean American art. One question lingers throughout her search: What might be gained from living in residence with uncertainty?
Told with whip-smart sensibility, The Wanderer’s Curse is an electric mother-daughter story, exploring ideas of belonging, self-determination, and possibility, leaving readers to wonder what we take with us generation to generation, what we wish we could leave behind, and how we move on.
PRESENTED BY
Magic City Books is an independent bookstore owned by the nonprofit Tulsa Literary Coalition. We specialize in literary and popular fiction and narrative nonfiction for adults. We also offer carefully curated sections for children and teens. We want Magic City Books to be your “third place,” the place besides home and work where you feel most comfortable. Come visit us, attend a literary program or author event, and get to know our knowledgeable and well-read staff.
Established in 2015, the Tulsa Artist Fellowship was created as a place-based initiative by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) to address pressing challenges faced by contemporary artists and arts workers living in and joining Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa Artist Fellowship believes the arts are critical to advancing cultural citizenship and supports community-invested practitioners who intentionally engage with our city.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3048352-0
