Jiwon Choi

I am a poet, urban gardener, and preschool teacher living in Brooklyn NY. I am the author of One Daughter is Worth Ten Sons, published by Hanging Loose Press. My second book of poems will be published by Hanging Loose in 2021.

When I am not writing, I work with four year olds at the Educational Alliance, a NYC community organization that has been helping families for over 126 years.

I also organize membership and advocate for my community garden located in Downtown Brooklyn. We are open to the community and have been in this Brooklyn neighborhood since 1985. As an urban gardener with limited growing space, I am keen on growing crops that give a good yield. My focus for the past five years has been to cultivate Korean vegetables that are hard to come by in my neighborhood.

Works

2021

I Used to Be Korean

In "I Used to Be Korean", Jiwon Choi's present participles wrestle with the past tense, winning every match through sheer candor and vitality. The poet's "rosebud power" and honesty are dynamic, as is her grasp of history, family, identity, and eros.
-Linda Norton, author of Wite Out: Love and Work (a memoir with poems, 2020) and The Public Gardens: Poems and History (2011).