Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

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Theresa Hak Kyung Cha bigraphy, stories - Author

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha : biography

March 4, 1951 – November 5, 1982

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (March 4, 1951 — November 5, 1982) was a South Korean-born American novelist and artist, best known for her 1982 novel, Dictee.

Published works

  • Dictee – 1982
  • The Dream of the Audience – 2001
  • Exilée and Temps Morts: Selected Works – 2009
  • Exilée and Temps Morts: Selected works – 2009

Early life and career

Cha, a Korean American, was born in Busan, South Korea during the Korean War. Her family eventually moved to the United States in 1962, settling down in the U.S. state of California. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Comparative Literature and an MFA from the University of California, Berkeley. After leaving university, she moved to Paris, France, where she studied filmmaking and critical theory before returning to the Bay Area as a filmmaker and performance artist. Cha’s interdisciplinary background is clearly evident in Dictee which experiments with juxtaposition and hypertext of both print and visual media.

Cha was raped and killed by security guard and serial rapist Joey Sanza in New York City, New York, a week after the publication of Dictee.

Performances

  • Barren Cave Mute (1974), at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Aveugle Voix (1975), at 63 Bluxome Street, San Francisco.
  • A Ble Wail (1975), at Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley.
  • Life Mixing (1975), at University Art Museum, Berkeley.
  • Vampyr (1976), at Centre des etudes americains du cinema, Paris.
  • Reveille dans la Brume (1977), at La Mamelle Arts Center and Fort Mason Arts Center, San Francisco.
  • Other Things Seen. Other Things Heard (1978), at Western Front Gallery, Vancouver, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Film/video works

Selected works distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix, Inc., New York

  • Secret Spill (1974) 27 min., b&w, sound
  • Mouth to Mouth (1975) 8 min., b&w, sound
  • Permutations (1976) 10 min., b&w, sound
  • Vidéoème (1976) 3 min., b&w, sound
  • Re Dis Appearing (1977) 3 min., b&w, sound