Have you ever thought that South Dakota and South Korea would ever be compared? Well, that’s exactly what Mary Haug has done with her new book Daughters of the Grasslands. The book is filled with memoirs about Haug’s experiences visiting South Korea and how many of those events sparked memories from her childhood in South Dakota.
She had a reading here at SMSU on Monday, Nov. 3. She told us her process in writing this book, like how it originally started as a traveler journal as she went through South Korea. From the support of her writing group, she changed it into the book that it’s now.
Haug has visited many places around the world including Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, France, Prague, Vienna, Holland, Jamaica, Mexico, and Canada. When asked if she would write on any of the those places similar with what she did with South Korea, she said “I learned a great deal from each country, but if I were to write about any of them, I would probably focus on Ireland and Prague, because my grandparents came from those countries, and I write memoirs and know there are good stories in those countries and their history.”
We discussed whether or not there were any stories that she left out of the book, which turned out to be a yes. Like any writer knows, we cut out a lot when editing stories, poems, and novels, and Haug is no exception.
One story that didn’t make it in the final product included a neighborhood in Seoul, South Korea that Haug and her husband had to stay in. The place was super sketchy, and their room that they booked ended up being on top of a McDonalds. They quickly checked out, but she did praise the shopping area.
An interesting thing that we discussed is how she felt about the Bridge of No Return, which is in one of the stories in her book. It’s a bridge that connects North and South Korea, and is apparently a very jarring and scary experience.
“Seeing the Bridge of No Return was very emotional for me, because that was the first time it struck me how different the United States would be if we hadn’t reunited after the Civil War” she said. It’s an interesting thing to think about. Would America be just like North and South Korea if the Civil War had taken a different turn? We’ll never know, but it’s disturbing to think about.
Haug has the excellent ability to make you think about the world in a completely different light, which is what every author strives for with their writing. To be able to bring together comparisons from South Korea to the Midwest and make it sound so real, that takes some real talent. If you have around $16, I highly recommend getting Haug’s new book, Daughters of the Grasslands, which is currently available on Amazon.
