ann y.k. choi
Toronto-based author and educator
An inconvenient life
A play by Ins Choi
I was at a really great little bookstore earlier called Theatre Books. It was my first visit there. I went in specifically looking for Kim’s Convenience, a play by Ins Choi (no relation) that I’ve been wanting to see for a while now. It’s about a first generation Korean immigrant family living and running a convenience store in the heart of downtown Toronto.
My family did the same for thirty years. Our store was open 7-11, seven days a week. My friends used to feel sorry for me because my family never ate meals together, and because my brothers and I were always working in the store. But that was the only life we knew growing up. The worst thing of all though was living with the constant threat of being robbed which happened so often, we lost count over the decades.
The book that I’m currently writing is also set in and around a family-owned variety store. Mary, my protagonist, is a Korean-Canadian immigrant who struggles to break free from the rigid expectations imposed on her by her parents and her culture.
ann y.k. choi 
What did your parents want you to become?
A teacher. A wife, and then a mother.
I feel strongly about the story of the convenience store. It was my life for a few years as a teenager. I look forward to reading Cornered.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
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