Ep. 149 Joanna Choi Kalbus

QWERTY: A Podcast for Writers on How to Live the Writing Life

Writer and author Joanna Choi Kalbus was born in North Korea and emigrated in wartime to The United States as a child, speaking no English. She was immersed in the California school system before the existence of English as a second language programs. She succeeded and eventually earned her PhD in Educational Administration from the University of California and served as a teacher, principal, and regional superintendent for 35 years. At eighty-four years old, Joanna has just published her first book, a memoir, called The Boat Not Taken, just out from BETTY Books, an imprint of WTAW books. It has been named by Ms. Magazine as one of The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2025. The QWERTY podcast is brought to you by the book The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life. Read it, and begin your own journey to writing what you know. To learn more, join The Memoir Project free newsletter list and keep up to date on all our free webinars, instructive posts and online classes in how to write memoir, as well as our talented, available memoir editors and memoir coaches, podcast guests and more.