Nicole Chung

Nicole Chung is the author of the memoir All You Can Ever Know

Recent Articles

Grieving His Mother's Death, Ocean Vuong Learned to Write for Himself

In March 2019, three months before the publication of Ocean Vuong’s novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, he called his agent from the hallway of a Hartford, Conn., hospital. “There’s no way I can go...

By Nicole Chung March 30, 2022

There's No End in Sight for COVID-19. What Do We Tell Our Kids Now?

Looking back, maybe I shouldn’t have used the phrase when this is over quite so often when talking about the pandemic with my kids. It wasn’t that I thought everything would return to the status...

By Nicole Chung September 28, 2021

I'm Grateful for the Hugs I Can Now Share–and Haunted by the Ones I Can't

I'm at the stage of pandemic life when I am still counting the hugs. The first time I invited a good friend not just over to but into my house, postvaccination, sans masks, I couldn't...

By Nicole Chung June 24, 2021

I'm Tired of Trying to Educate White People About Anti-Asian Racism

As we continue to witness violence against Asian Americans--including, in the past month, the punching of a Bay Area father pushing his baby in a stroller; the assault on two women with a cement block...

By Nicole Chung May 27, 2021

How a Pandemic Puppy Saved My Grieving Family

For years, whenever our children asked us if we could get a dog, my husband and I had some vague and only slightly encouraging go-to responses, such as, “Someday?” and “Maybe when you’re old enough...

By Nicole Chung April 6, 2021

My White Parents Struggled to See Me as Asian

For the last year, and especially since the devastating Atlanta-area murders on March 16, many of my Asian American friends have been sharing deeply personal, painful stories of talking with their parents and elders, pleading...

By Nicole Chung March 22, 2021

Grieving My Mom's Death From a Distance

This year on my mother’s birthday, in October, I woke up from one of many dreams I’ve had about her since her death. I’d been sitting with family and friends in my grandmother’s backyard, our...

By Nicole Chung November 18, 2020

How Do I Decide Whether to Visit My Sick Mom?

Businesses, basketball games, Broadway shows, baby showers—every area of life has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s impossible to go an hour without hearing of another cancellation or closure. Like many others, I’ve spent...

By Nicole Chung March 13, 2020
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