Elisabeth Kikuchi

During my time at the Sou'wester, I intended to work on my manuscript described as follows: I am currently at work on a hybrid memoir in essays and photographs titled The Burden Is Separation. The work is about being the daughter of a Filipina immigrant mother and a white American father, growing up in disparate geographies (including international and military spaces), and grappling with the notion of home. It tells a story of geographic dissonance, the shadows of a fractured family, and the reverberations of loss. Through lyric essays and images, I explore the environment I was born into, and my experience of familial and romantic love in the context of colonial histories. I contend with generational trauma and belonging while questioning my cultural and linguistic inheritance.