A prolific and distinguished writer who has won awards in Korea and the US with six books of poetry and one collection of short stories. His essays and short stories have appeared in prestigious journals such as Short Story International and World Literature Today. In 1994, he became the first poet from Korea to be invited to read at the Library of Congress; Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Gwendolyn Brooks introduced Choi by reading a poem she wrote about him. He served as executive director of the Korean PEN Center and edited Korean Literature Today. He founded the Korean Poets and Writers Group and the Korean-American Poets' Group in Washington, DC. A Ph.D in political science and public administration from Indiana University, he has written extensively on current issues in Korea and Korean-US relations, worked for the federal government, and taught at the University of Wisconsin, Old Dominion University, the University of the District of Columbia, and the University of Seoul, retiring in 2006. He is the author of the memoir, SONG OF MYSELF: A KOREAN-AMERICAN LIFE (2010), and editor of the collection, I AM HOMELAND: TWELVE KOREAN- AMERICAN POETS (2013), both published by Poetic Matrix Press.
