“For so long it felt like the only way I could talk about romantic feelings or attraction towards women was through a male voice… I really do feel like I wrote Pizza Girl at the right time, when I was finally feeling more at home in my skin.”
On her writing practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: “There are many periods where I can’t write a word. Whether it’s because of what’s going on on the news, the sadness everywhere, the vileness. Sometimes I think you just need to be okay not writing and not doing anything productive.”
Jean Kyoung Frazier lives in Los Angeles. Pizza Girl is her debut novel.
Books Jean Kyoung Frazier mentions in this episode:
How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang
Days of Distraction by Alexandra Chang
Chemistry by Weike Wang
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
A selection of independent, Black-owned bookstores that will ship book orders during the COVID-19 pandemic:
44th & 3rd Bookseller (Atlanta, GA)
Black Pearl Books (Austin, TX)
Black Stone Bookstore & Cultural Center (Ypsilanti, MI)
Books and Crannies (Martinsville, VA)
The Dock Bookshop (Dallas-Fort Worth, TX)
Eclectuals (Long Beach, CA)
Elizabeth’s Bookshop & Writing Centre (Akron, OH)
Eso Won Books (Los Angeles, CA)
Fulton Street Books & Coffee (Tulsa, OK)
The Lit. Bar (Bronx, NY)
Loyalty Bookstores (Washington, D.C.)
Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery (Chicago, IL)
Uncle Bobbie’s Books & Coffee (Philadelphia, PA)
Underground Books (Sacramento, CA)
