Nicholas Gordon 1 June 2023 Podcast
Podcast with Monica Macias, author of “Black Girl From Pyongyang: In Search of My Identity”
Monica Macias, the youngest daughter of Equatorial Guinea’s first president at just seven years old, lands in Pyongyang, North Korea in 1979. Her father had sent her to the country to study, but what was meant to be a shorter visit grew to a decade-long stay when her father was ousted in a coup.
Monica stays in Pyongyang until 1994, when she graduates from Pyongyang University of Light Industry, and she decides to travel the world: to China, to Spain, to South Korea, to Equatorial Guinea, the US and the UK. Everywhere she goes, people are puzzled by her background: an African woman who speaks perfect, flawless, accentless Korean.
Black Girl from Pyongyang: In Search of My Identity, Monica Macias (Duckworth, May 2023)She first told her story in her biography “I’m Monica from Pyongyang”, which was published in Korean in 2013. She now tells her story in English in Black Girl from Pyongyang: In Search of My Identity. In this interview, we talk about Monica’s story, her time in Pyongyang, her travels around the world, and what misperceptions we may have about one of the world’s most isolated countries.
Nicholas Gordon has an MPhil from Oxford in International Relations and a BA from Harvard. He is a writer, editor and occasional radio host based in Hong Kong.
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