Do you know a book called Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet? It is a sweet love story between a Chinese American boy, Henry, and a Japanese American girl, Keiko, during World War II in Seattle.

The novel was published in 2009, and spent two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list and won the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. It was named the #1 Book Club pick in 2010 by the American Bookseller Association and is now read widely in schools all across the United States. Also, it has become “the book” to read among people in the Japanese American community in Seattle and for anyone who is interested in the Japanese American incarceration during the war.

In this bonus episode, you will hear Jamie Ford, the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, talk about his love for Seattle’s International District, what motivated him to write this story, and why it is important for him to keep telling this story. He will also talk about why award-winning poet Lawson Inada used to make breakfast for him as a child, and if there is a model for the main character, Keiko.

----------------------------- Special thanks to Jamie Ford

Music by ZakharValaha from Pixabay

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References:

About Jamie Ford

https://jamieford.com/about/

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

https://jamieford.com/books/hotel-on-the-corner-of-bitter-and-sweet/

The Panama Hotel

https://www.panamahotelseattle.net/

Lawson Fusao Inada

https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Lawson_Fusao_Inada/

Densho

https://densho.org/

Wing Luke Museum

https://www.wingluke.org/

Listen/Read for more:

beyond generations podcast Episode 1 about the Panama Hotel

https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/Ey0HpALa0xb

North American Post article about why the host Monica started her podcast

https://napost.com/2023/podcasts-on-japanese-american-incarceration-during-wwii-by-a-japanese-student/

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