Korean-American Author Steph Cha Wins LA Times Book Prize

The Award-Winning Work is 'Neoui Jibani Daegareul Chireul Geosida (Your House Will Pay)'

[Photo by Author's Homepage Capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Korean-American mystery writer Steph Cha (34, photo) won the 40th LA Times Book Prize in the Mystery/Thriller category, hosted by the Los Angeles (LA) Times.

The winning work is "Your House Will Pay," published in the United States last October. The novel is inspired by the 1991 Los Angeles Dosunja incident (Latasha Harlins case). In 1991, Dosunja, a Korean woman running a supermarket in a predominantly Black neighborhood in LA, mistakenly identified Black girl Latasha Harlins as a thief, leading to a scuffle and an accidental shooting. Dosunja was recognized as having committed an unintentional crime and was sentenced to five years of probation (suspended sentence).

Meanwhile, just before the Dosunja incident, four white police officers brutally beat Rodney King, a Black man who was speeding. The Rodney King incident triggered the 1992 LA riots, during which the Dosunja incident was again highlighted in the American media.

In her novel, Cha explores the conflict between a Korean family and a Black family, closely connected across 1991 and 2019. Through this, she sharply examines America's chronic racial discrimination issues and the violence passed down through generations.

Cha majored in English Literature and East Asian Studies at Stanford University and later attended Yale Law School. She debuted in 2013 with a trilogy featuring the character Juniper Song.

The Korean edition of "Your House Will Pay" is scheduled to be published by Hwanggeumgaji at the end of this year.

The LA Times Book Prize's Mystery/Thriller category was established in 2000, with past winners including Val McDermid, Stephen King, George Pelecanos, and Don Winslow. This year, in the Graphic Novel category, "Pool" by Kim Geum-sook, based on testimonies of Japanese military comfort women victims, was nominated and attracted attention. The award ceremony is usually held at the "LA Times Book Festival," the largest book festival in the United States, but this year the event was postponed to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Winners shared their acceptance speeches via video on the official LA Times Book Prize Twitter account.