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Hong’s 2014 essay, “Delusions of Whiteness in the Avant-Garde”, voices her

frustrations with the “luxurious opinion[s] that anyone can be

“post-identity” …when there are those who are consistently harassed,

surveilled, profiled, or deported for whom they are.” She adeptly describes

the ignorance of many majority avant-garde writers who write luxuriously

while neglecting the experiences of minorities. With this, she additionally

expresses the fear of many minority poets to be labeled as a “political

writer,” labeled as someone who writes solely to comment on political

correctness and theories.  

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Among many pursuits, originality involves creating an innovative approach

from time-honored styles and the existing standard. It can involve mediums

that speak to matters larger than the worlds and premises we create in our

writing. More than anything, it is a direct expression of our own identities,

and it speaks clearer than anything else as we explore the magnitude of its

potential. Characteristic of the work Cathy Park Hong has done in her career;

the theme of this Literary Magazine was to epitomize our self-exploration and

provide a means for others to advance the path of their own.