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Swimming in Hong Kong
Stephanie Han’s award-winning stories cross the borders and boundaries of Hong Kong, Korea, and the United States. This is an intimate look at those who dare to explore the geography of hope and love, struggle with dreams of longing and home, and wander in the myths of memory and desire.
- GenresShort StoriesAsia
134 pages, Paperback
Published January 24, 2017
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93 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Han
5 books9 followersDr. Stephanie Han is an award-winning author and speaker known for inspiring audiences to narrate their personal lives. Through the art of storytelling, Han demonstrates the complicated truths of the narratives that determine our intimate and global identities. Audience members are compelled to search for their individual purpose and value, to discover their true motivations and boundaries, and to creatively manifest their dreams.
Han’s debut short story collection Swimming in Hong Kong (Willow Springs Books) won the Paterson Fiction prize. The book was sole finalist for the AWP’s Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, the Spokane Prize and the Asian Books Blog Award. Individual stories won awards from the South China Morning Post, Nimrod International Literary Journal, and Santa Fe Writer’s Project.
Han’s debut short story collection Swimming in Hong Kong (Willow Springs Books) won the Paterson Fiction prize. The book was sole finalist for the AWP’s Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, the Spokane Prize and the Asian Books Blog Award. Individual stories won awards from the South China Morning Post, Nimrod International Literary Journal, and Santa Fe Writer’s Project.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 9, 2021
An interesting set of stories which delve into Korean American life in various different countries. The stories are often written in first person and are meditative and tone. Han has an assured voice and the situations her narrators embody leave a lot to reflect on.
The stories Invisible and Swimming in Hong Kong were the ones which intrigued me the most. I am curious to see what Han writes next.
The stories Invisible and Swimming in Hong Kong were the ones which intrigued me the most. I am curious to see what Han writes next.
April 21, 2017
Would recommend for anyone interested in Asian diasporic/Asian American literature. This book is a beautiful collection of short stories weaving themes of race, gender, belonging/othering/home, complexities of identity, love, migration and desire. Really well written and engaging stories.
April 11, 2018
Stephanie Han brilliantly shows how it feels to be an outsider in a collection of short stories set in the United States, Korea and Hong Kong.
The stories are unified on the theme of narrators trying to find their place in the face of constantly shifting demands and expectations. One character describes the internal conflict by saying, "I'm not sure what I want to be made into."
One key theme is that as soon as you think you've found your space, a comment or look might make you an outsider again. Identity is explored through culture, race, age, class and religion. The similarities and differences are woven through a diverse and sombre range of characters. Many of the women seem to be asking themselves, "Where did the time go? How did I get here?" Some of these brief conversations cover ideas in a few words which might take other authors a full book to make you feel. One such scene was when a young girl sat silently while her friend's family unknowingly disparaged people of her background in front of her.
Han uses subtle barbs on Orientalism, sexual fetishism and age differences in dating. This book also stands out from others on the shelf because of how it sensitively presents the community pressure to date within your own race and the intense scrutiny that women face if they are not married before they turn 30.
These family stories show the weight of obligation, the embarrassment that comes from navigating the delicate balancing act of pleasing our loved ones and longing for something more. There are also sympathetic portrayals of an eager, lovesick American student and a wealthy young man with a "crown of golden hair" who seems to have everything, except for peace.
My favourite vignette, "The Body Politic, 1982," shows Han's touch in combining dark humour and heartbreak. A young student leaves Wisconsin to attend a university in New York and quickly becomes a Minding the Campus horror story. Her exploration of identity politics bewilders her parents, tanks her grades and leads her from one messy relationship to the next. The descriptions of the feminist student activist groups are biting, especially in a scene where its militant members are too distracted by a committee-approved haircut to discuss weighty matters of Asian sex tourism. When the very timely issues of bullying, coercion and grey rape are covered, you wonder where the real friends and bonds of community are.
Other stories delve into the loneliness suffered by young women leaving family in one country or another, typically in attempt to leave behind a past or to recreate themselves for the future. Immigration stories often refer to starting a new life, religious optimism and economic security, but what sets this collection apart is how these ambitions bring people together or cause further isolation. Issues of conformity circle around "I am, therefore I should think" rather than, "I think, therefore I am." Given the current state of politics, global workplaces, and university campuses, this short story collection is a touching and timely read.
The stories are unified on the theme of narrators trying to find their place in the face of constantly shifting demands and expectations. One character describes the internal conflict by saying, "I'm not sure what I want to be made into."
One key theme is that as soon as you think you've found your space, a comment or look might make you an outsider again. Identity is explored through culture, race, age, class and religion. The similarities and differences are woven through a diverse and sombre range of characters. Many of the women seem to be asking themselves, "Where did the time go? How did I get here?" Some of these brief conversations cover ideas in a few words which might take other authors a full book to make you feel. One such scene was when a young girl sat silently while her friend's family unknowingly disparaged people of her background in front of her.
Han uses subtle barbs on Orientalism, sexual fetishism and age differences in dating. This book also stands out from others on the shelf because of how it sensitively presents the community pressure to date within your own race and the intense scrutiny that women face if they are not married before they turn 30.
These family stories show the weight of obligation, the embarrassment that comes from navigating the delicate balancing act of pleasing our loved ones and longing for something more. There are also sympathetic portrayals of an eager, lovesick American student and a wealthy young man with a "crown of golden hair" who seems to have everything, except for peace.
My favourite vignette, "The Body Politic, 1982," shows Han's touch in combining dark humour and heartbreak. A young student leaves Wisconsin to attend a university in New York and quickly becomes a Minding the Campus horror story. Her exploration of identity politics bewilders her parents, tanks her grades and leads her from one messy relationship to the next. The descriptions of the feminist student activist groups are biting, especially in a scene where its militant members are too distracted by a committee-approved haircut to discuss weighty matters of Asian sex tourism. When the very timely issues of bullying, coercion and grey rape are covered, you wonder where the real friends and bonds of community are.
Other stories delve into the loneliness suffered by young women leaving family in one country or another, typically in attempt to leave behind a past or to recreate themselves for the future. Immigration stories often refer to starting a new life, religious optimism and economic security, but what sets this collection apart is how these ambitions bring people together or cause further isolation. Issues of conformity circle around "I am, therefore I should think" rather than, "I think, therefore I am." Given the current state of politics, global workplaces, and university campuses, this short story collection is a touching and timely read.
May 16, 2020
Swimming in Hong Kong is a book of short stories that explore stereotypes, myths, and experiences about Asian-American identity. Han’s characters face situations in which they perceive feeling different, question where they belong, or sometimes confront moments of identity crisis. In more than one story she speaks about invisibility, about not being seen in certain contexts. In others, she explores positions of power and subordination within Asian relationships that are questioned when seen through an American lens.
What I appreciated in Han’s stories is her ability to easily flow from one side to the next, looking at characters’ perspectives from both Asian and American angles, sometimes lashing out and sometimes simply poking fun at either side. Also notable is her courage at charging at issues without mincing words. Han belongs to both worlds, which is why I liked that the title of the book and its cover speak about swimming, as she easily drifts from one cultural standpoint to the other.
My favorite story is Hong Kong Rebound, about a young girl hanging around her father as he tries to watch a football game by peeking through a window at a bar that caters to foreigners. She regards her father with admiration, and describes him as "tall with hope, not stooped like the handle of an umbrella", yet she recognizes for the first time the humiliation of not being able to sit at a table and order drinks like the other patrons inside.
This book reconciles the pull of belonging to cross-cultural identities. A worthy read.
What I appreciated in Han’s stories is her ability to easily flow from one side to the next, looking at characters’ perspectives from both Asian and American angles, sometimes lashing out and sometimes simply poking fun at either side. Also notable is her courage at charging at issues without mincing words. Han belongs to both worlds, which is why I liked that the title of the book and its cover speak about swimming, as she easily drifts from one cultural standpoint to the other.
My favorite story is Hong Kong Rebound, about a young girl hanging around her father as he tries to watch a football game by peeking through a window at a bar that caters to foreigners. She regards her father with admiration, and describes him as "tall with hope, not stooped like the handle of an umbrella", yet she recognizes for the first time the humiliation of not being able to sit at a table and order drinks like the other patrons inside.
This book reconciles the pull of belonging to cross-cultural identities. A worthy read.
August 8, 2025
Loved this collection of short stories. The word that really nails the ethos for me is "poignant": some stories are funny, others heartbreaking, but in the words of one of the reviewer blurbs, Han excels at getting at "uncomfortable truths." The protagonists and settings vary, including Korea and Hong Kong, and young to old characters. My favorites were "My Friend Faith, 1977" and "Languages": in the latter, I love how Han masterfully renders the voice of a Korean teacher of English in Seoul, who can't decide how she feels about, or how to interact with, her white American male student. I like it because Han succeeds in vividly creating a believable character who is distinctly not American (which Han is), nor is she is stereotypically East Asian/Korean.
In "My Friend Faith, 1977," Han uses a simple, likable story to powerfully convey the complexities of being Asian American, in relatable but not predictable details of the plot and characters. For instance, you find out right away that the protagonist is Korean American and doesn't speak much Korean, but her bestie in Seoul is a white girl who is an MK (Missionary Kid) who is fluent in Korean. Humor and twists follow!
In "My Friend Faith, 1977," Han uses a simple, likable story to powerfully convey the complexities of being Asian American, in relatable but not predictable details of the plot and characters. For instance, you find out right away that the protagonist is Korean American and doesn't speak much Korean, but her bestie in Seoul is a white girl who is an MK (Missionary Kid) who is fluent in Korean. Humor and twists follow!
December 23, 2017
Hong Kong is a hard nut to crack. A post-colonial British outpost with a class system that favors Westerners and monied Westernized locals and everyone else moving up and down the system depending on wealth. Money buys access. Access takes money. I've never read a better deconstruction of Hong Kong than in this smart collection of stories. The first and last stories in the collection cut open the issues of race, racialism. and racism in Hong Kong with great force and delicacy. The stories are not limited to Hong Kong, there are several set in the US and Korea about people on the move, people running away, people about to die.. All are beautifully told by Korean American Hawaiian, Stephanie Han, who was an expat in Hong Kong and has lived much of her life between cultures.
July 4, 2017
"Languages" was my favorite story of the bunch, followed by "My Friend Faith, 1977." The former hit especially hard, as the narrator is really feeling the weight of both her culture and her gender. Of course, that could be said of most of the characters in this collection, but "Languages" felt like the most hopeful of the bunch. There was joy in it. The writing is precise but restrained, and I guess it made it that much more rewarding when the narrator of "Languages" finally got a win of sorts.
September 7, 2018
A very well done collection of stories about negotiating Asian identities in a global world. Several would be suitable for study in a literature class. One story about a young Korean couple and their visit to the Grand Canyon uses the trope of the journey to a national monument to bring up issues of freedom, spirituality, and belonging. I highly recommend this collection!
September 16, 2017
Absolutely full of stereotypes - unfortunately one of the worst books I read this year.
Not even all stories are about Hong Kong.
Such a disappointment.
Not even all stories are about Hong Kong.
Such a disappointment.
December 21, 2016
A startling, original collection worthy of the prizes it's won. Han's narrators are international, cosmopolitan, and a touch travel-weary, but the stories, while individual and unique, are ultimately warm and full of heart. Though some of the early stories share the same voice, the narrators of the later stories are distinctly different in nationality, ethnicity, gender, and age, and their viewpoints are varied and interesting. The works seem, to me, to adhere to a uniquely American (or at least uniquely Western, MFA-cultivated) model of the short story: subtle, evenly paced, and rigorouly controlled, but the language is luminous, attentive, and precise.
Han's narrators are all in some way outsiders to the culture they're in or observing, and as such have the power to make some fairly incisive observations about how the "in" group treats the other, particularly in the Orientalism still hard at work in how the West constructs the Asian other. But while rife with perceptions about the Other, the stories never feel like academic lectures or political rants; each story is filtered through a narrator who feels very particular to a time and place, and the conflict resonates in personal, individual ways.
Han's narrators belong everywhere and nowhere, true citizens of the world, offering fresh and necessary information about the changing boundaries of gender, race, and class. Each story stands alone, but the collection is notable for its extraordinary geographical range and vision. Han's ability to navigate international waters has brought us a thoughtful, surprising, and utterly unique book that rises above the workshop-feel of the earlier stories to an accomplished, highly readable whole.
(Review excepted from fuller treatment at femmeliterate.net.)
Han's narrators are all in some way outsiders to the culture they're in or observing, and as such have the power to make some fairly incisive observations about how the "in" group treats the other, particularly in the Orientalism still hard at work in how the West constructs the Asian other. But while rife with perceptions about the Other, the stories never feel like academic lectures or political rants; each story is filtered through a narrator who feels very particular to a time and place, and the conflict resonates in personal, individual ways.
Han's narrators belong everywhere and nowhere, true citizens of the world, offering fresh and necessary information about the changing boundaries of gender, race, and class. Each story stands alone, but the collection is notable for its extraordinary geographical range and vision. Han's ability to navigate international waters has brought us a thoughtful, surprising, and utterly unique book that rises above the workshop-feel of the earlier stories to an accomplished, highly readable whole.
(Review excepted from fuller treatment at femmeliterate.net.)
September 13, 2018
Review can be found in Indiana Review blog: https://indianareview.org/2017/08/mic...
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews