Ellen Oh

Ellen Oh (née Ha) is a Korean-American author, and founding member and CEO of the non-profit We Need Diverse Books.[1][2] She is the award winning author of young adult and middle grade novels including the Prophecy trilogy, also known as the Dragon King Chronicles, a series of fantasy, young adult novels based on Korean folklore. [3]

Ellen Oh
Ellen Oh reading at 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival
Ellen Oh reading at 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung adult fiction
Years active2013–present
Website
ellenoh.com

Life and career

Oh grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She attended New York University and Georgetown University, graduating with a legal degree.[3] She began to write seriously after she had children, prompted by her struggle to find books that included representations for her kids.[4][3]

Prophecy, the first book in Oh's young adult fantasy series, was published in January 2013.[3] The series, known both as the Prophecy trilogy and the Dragon King Chronicles, draws from Korean folklore.[1]

In 2014, BookCon announced an all-white line-up for the event and hosted a children's book author panel consisting of all-white, all-male participants.[5][6] In response, Ellen Oh and others in the industry created a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks.[5] The campaign, launched on May 1, 2014, gained 106 million Twitter impressions in the first 24 hours. The organization We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) was incorporated in the summer of 2014. For her work, Oh was named one of Publishers Weekly's Notable People in 2014.[1] As of 2020, she is currently the president of WNDB.[1][7]

In 2016, Oh was a judge for the National Book Awards in the young people’s literature category.[8]

Oh's book, Spirit Hunters, was started after her daughter was hospitalized due to depression. The first scene she wrote for the book was influenced by the hospital room and, according to Oh, based on "that feeling of depression and horror and sadness and fear that I was feeling and that I know my kid was feeling." The book follows a young child, Harper, and her family as they move into a seemingly haunted house.[4] The story was influenced by Korean Shamanism, and was published in 2017.[4][9]

In 2020, Oh, Christina Soontornvat and Melanie Conklin created the Everywhere Book Fest, due to COVID-19 cancelling in-person book festivals. It was held online May 1 and 2, 2020, focusing on children's literature with 43,000 viewers attending.[10][11]

Bibliography
  • The Dragon Egg Princess (2020)[12]
  • Finding Junie Kim (2021)[13]

Dragon King Chronicles series

Spirit Hunters series
  • Spirit Hunters (2017)[9]
  • Spirit Hunters: The Island of Monsters (2018)[17]

Short stories
  • "The Last Day" in Diverse Energies (2012), edited by Tobias S. Buckell and Joe Monti[18]
  • "Second Chances" in Behind the Song (2017), edited by K. M. Walton[19]
  • "Everly’s Otherworldly Dilemma" in The Hero Next Door (2019), edited by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich[20]
  • "Kodama's Ramen Shop" in Fresh Ink (2018) paperback version, edited by Lamar Giles
  • "Carp, Calculus and the Leap of Faith" in A Thousand Beginnings and Endings (2018) paperback version, edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman

Editor
  • Flying Lessons & Other Stories (2017)[21]
  • A Thousand Beginnings and Endings (2018)[22]

References
  1. Kirch, Claire (28 November 2014). "Notable Publishing People of 2014". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  2. Begley, Sarah (19 December 2016). "A Collection of Tales That Bind". Time. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  3. "Prophecy and Warrior by Ellen Oh + Author Profile [in Bloom]". BookDragon. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  4. Heimbach, Alex (25 July 2017). "Ellen Oh". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  5. Slater, Dashka (2016). "The Uncomfortable Truth About Children's Books". Mother Jones. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. Kirch, Claire (1 May 2014). "BookCon Controversy Begets Diversity Social Media Campaign". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  7. "About WNDB: Meet the Team". We Need Diverse Books. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  8. Maher, John (1 April 2016). "Judges Announced for National Book Awards". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  9. "Spirit Hunters". Publishers Weekly. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  10. Kantor, Emma; Young, Sarah (7 May 2020). "Everywhere Book Fest in Photos". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  11. León, Concepción de (20 March 2020). "Home With Your Kids? Writers Want to Help". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  12. "The Dragon Egg Princess". Kirkus Reviews. 24 November 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  13. Hong, Catherine (2021-06-04). "Ellen Oh's New Middle Grade Novel Is Not a Fantasy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
  14. "Prophecy". Publishers Weekly. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  15. "Warrior". Kirkus Reviews. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  16. "King". Kirkus Reviews. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  17. Wilde, Susie (10 December 2018). "The best books and YA novels of 2018 for younger readers". The News & Observer. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  18. "Diverse Energies". Publishers Weekly. 24 December 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  19. Biedenharn, Isabella (24 February 2017). "Read an excerpt from music-inspired YA anthology, Behind the Song — and see the cover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  20. Gershowitz, Elissa (13 August 2019). "Review of The Hero Next Door". The Horn Book. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  21. "Flying Lessons & Other Stories". Kirkus Reviews. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  22. "A Thousand Beginnings and Endings". Publishers Weekly. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
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