Sun Yung Shin

Korean American poet, writer and educator Sun Yung Shin was born in Seoul, South Korea and was adopted and raised in Chicago. She earned a BA in English from Macalester College and a Masters degree in teaching from the University of St. Thomas. She is the author of Unbearable Splendor (Coffee House Press, 2016), Rough, and Savage (Coffee House Press, 2012), and Skirt Full of Black (Coffee House Press, 2007), which received the Asian American Literary Award for Poetry. She is the co-editor of Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption (South End Press, 2006) and the author of bilingual Korean/English illustrated book for children Cooper’s Lesson (Children's Book Press, 2004). 

Shin has received artist grants and fellowships from the Archibald Bush Foundation, twice from the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, Blacklock Nature Sanctuary, and the Loft Literary Center. She has taught writing at the University of Minnesota, St. Catherine University, the Loft Literary Center, and elsewhere in her community. She lives in Minneapolis.