I gave this talk at Sky Way Library. The talk had been requested for me to give to the UMKC medical students by their medical professor Dr. Rose Zwerenzen. I gave the talk 3 times in 2015 and 2016 before moving to Seattle.  She  asked me again this year.

Here is a link to my story about the belief in Zodiac signs and how it affects women AND men and the business of fortune telling (you’ll find humor in the story!)

Click here to find The Korea Times story, fortunetelling

Maija was interviewed by CBS Radio’s Benji Cole, host of the program “People of Distinction,” on July 6, 2023.

This is an extremely important interview in which Maija discusses her 4-time award-winning autobiographical book, The Voices of Heaven, as well as what readers will be welcomed to in the book: about Koreans, their language (the closest to Hungarian), how much blood and guts they shed to maintain their nation and culture, and history distinct from China and Japan.

Maija was interviewed by CBS Radio’s Benji Cole, host of the program “People of Distinction,” on July 6, 2023.

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Interview with international and educational video film producer, Armando F. Sanchez of the Armando F. Sanchez Productions International.

This is about the Korean ‘comfort women’ of WWII. In it, I read 3 poems about them (in Korean).

In this interview, hosted by Armando F. Sanchez, I read two poems. One is an environmental poem, “Chunks of Iceberg Clouds Miscarry.” The other is about clipping the poems published in the New Yorker Magazine and recycling them, “Recycling the New Yorker Poems.”

The Voices of Heaven, my autobiographical novel about growing up in Korea, a man’s love for two women (his wife and his second wife he lives with in the same house),  what they go through during the Korean War (1950-1953) and their post-war lives through 2005 is being read by social studies students in Korean International School in Seoul.  One of the 8th graders wrote an exceedingly intelligent and moving review of the book and posted it on Goodreads.com. Here is the link.  I also copy the review here.

(1) A review of The Voices of Heaven by an  8^th grader at Korean International School, 11/18/21 on Goodreads website:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4345031369?book_show_action=false

Hannah’s Reviews > The Voices of Heaven

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The Voices of Heaven
by

Maija Rhee Devine (Goodreads Author)

Hannah‘s review

Nov 18, 2021

it was amazing

bookshelves: school-read-8, favorites

I thought that this book was beautifully written and carefully crafted in order to extract certain reactions and emotions from the reader especially in terms of connecting with each of the characters. I think that by alternating between the different perspectives of Soo-yang, Gui-young, Eum-chun and Mi-Na, it gives so much more depth to the story. Each character holds their own burdens and internal struggles as they try to uphold cultural traditions. I think it is admirable how the author refuses to take out or white wash any of the content and overall, it’s brutally honest and accurate on every event that occurred.

As a Korean-American growing up surrounded by western culture, concepts like boy-preference or historical events like the Korean War are things that are rather unfamiliar and untouched. But I think that after reading this book, I felt like I was starting to understand the pains and hardships of my parents, my grandparents, and the people who have come before me. I think especially with Mi-Na’s story, even though her struggles are not one that I have directly dealt with, the pressure to fulfill a parent’s expectations and be “good enough” is something that I can sympathize with and is something that is still so common regardless of how much our society has modernized and how much situations have changed. Even though we’re no longer in a war and many of us no longer have to worry about lack of food, we can still see the same themes in our society. I love how this book urges readers to make that connection between the problems in the book and the problems in the world of the readers.

I think that this book is a must-read for anyone regardless of their age or gender and I really enjoyed reading it.

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READING PROGRESS

Finished Reading

November 18, 2021 – Shelved

November 18, 2021 – Shelved as: school-read-8

November 23, 2021 – Shelved as: favorites

(2) All reviews of the VOH posted on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18234260-the-voices-of-heaven?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=MQUqCjI9fA&rank=1

#thevoicesofheaven #patriarchsouthkorea #genderinequality #sonpreference #glassceilingindex #sexratioatbirth #populationimbalance #yinandyang #chinesezodiacsigns #fengshui #koreanproverbs #koreanlanguage #hangul #thekoreanwar #syngmanrhee #harrystruman #genmacarthur #armistic #chineseinkoreanwar

My Tedx Talk Introduced to Korean International School (KIS) Social Studies Classes