On Rejection: Patricia Park

Novelist

Welcome to another On Rejection interview. This week I’m talking with author Patricia Park, whose second novel (Imposter Syndrome & Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim) just came out in February. She talks about the long game, how foreign language representation has changed in the years she’s been writing, and more. Enjoy!

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Hi Patricia! Tell us about a time you experienced rejection.

I learned I was rejected from a prestigious fellowship only when I saw a colleague post on Facebook that they were awarded that fellowship. (I never officially got my rejection from the organization.) I wish I could say this was the only time this has happened to me, but it’s surprisingly common.

How did you get over it? 

I don’t know that you ever do 100%. But with each rejection, the stakes get higher because presumably you keep aiming a little higher. So as the rejections start to pile up, the ones at the bottom of the pile sting a little less.

If you could go back and tell yourself anything right before that experience, what would you say? 

It’s a long game. 

Your first novel, Re Jane, came out in 2015 and your second novel, Imposter Syndrome & Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim, just came out on February 21, 2023. (Yay! Congrats!) How did writing the second novel differ from the first? 

Re Jane, a Jane Eyre retelling, is adult fiction; Imposter Syndrome is YA. I also wrote a novel in between that isn’t published (at least, not yet). With Imposter Syndrome, I had to teach myself the craft conventions of each genre as regards to voice, tone, language, retrospective narration vs immediacy, etc. Also, our culture has changed so much in that time. E.g., with Re Jane, all the Korean words are italicized; with Imposter Syndrome, I no longer had to subordinate “foreign” languages like Spanish and Korean with italics. It was very freeing!

What are you working on now? 

A novel called What’s Eating Jackie Oh about an aspiring teen chef who is dealing with anti-Asian hate. It’s coming out next year!

You can check out Patricia's website or follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.