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Pasculano Signature Series: Min Jin Lee

Greenwich Library is pleased to welcome National Book Award finalist and NYT bestselling author of Pachinko, Min Jin Lee to discuss her new book, American Hagwon, a breathtaking contemporary epic, as part of the Lynne and Richard Pasculano Signature Series. Lee will be joined in conversation by Jeffrey Brown, Senior Correspondent and Chief Arts Correspondent for PBS NewsHour.  

In American Hagwon, Min Jin Lee has crafted an unforgettable, panoramic novel where the smallest of gestures can have enormous repercussions, where the bonds of family and of memory twist and fray but rarely break, and where willful self-sacrifice—for the benefit of loved ones and even strangers—is a kind of prayer. 

The Lynne and Richard Pasculano Signature Series offers dynamic, exceptional public programming that engages the Greenwich community and region, featuring nationally recognized experts for timely analysis and conversations that promote an exchange of ideas. This series is made possible by a gift from Lynne and Richard Pasculano. 

This event will be livestreamed and recorded. Copies of Lee’s books will be available for sale and signing after the program and will be provided by Diane's Books. 

Date:
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Time:
7:00pm - 8:45pm
Location:
Berkley Theater
Audience:
  Adult  
Categories:
  Author Talk  
Registrations open at 10:00am Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Min Jin Lee is a writer whose award-winning fiction explores the intersection of race, ethnicity, immigration, class, religion, gender, and identity of a diasporic people. Lee’s debut novel Free Food for Millionaires (2007) was one of the Top 10 Novels of the Year for The Times of London, NPR’s Fresh Air, USA Today, and a national bestseller. Lee’s second novel, Pachinko, an international bestseller, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the Medici Book Club Prize, and was selected for over 75 best books of the year lists including NPR, PBS, and CNN. Pachinko has been translated into over 35 languages.  

Min Jin Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Queens, New York with her family when she was seven years old. She studied history at Yale College and law at Georgetown University. Lee practiced law for two years before turning to writing. She teaches fiction and essay writing at Amherst College and lives in New York City.

In his more than 30-year career with the News Hour, Jeffrey Brown has served as co-anchor, studio moderator, and field reporter on a wide range of national and international issues, with work taking him around the country and to many parts of the globe. As arts correspondent he has profiled many of the world's leading writers, musicians, actors and other artists. Among his signature works at the News Hour: a multi-year series, Culture at Risk, about threatened cultural heritage in the United States and abroad; the creation of the NewsHour’s online “Art Beat”; and hosting the monthly book club, “Now Read This,” a collaboration with The New York Times.

Photo credit for Min Jin Lee:  Elena Seibert