Hi, I’m Mimi.
I’m an award-winning writer, nonprofit leader, and narrative strategy coach & consultant.
I work with social justice-centered organizations and leaders on building narrative power for their communities.
MY PERSONAL STORY
Growing up in the UK, I was engrossed by my mother’s stories about living in—and escaping from—a patriarchal farming community in 1950s China, where the lack of rights for girls and women was a given (no access to education, no rights to land or property or protections from child labor and child marriage). I remember pulling out a tape recorder to capture her words, sensing, even as a child, that it was somehow important to bear witness.
That was probably my earliest experience of the dissonance between stories like my mother’s that were told privately or otherwise silenced, and those that were told and championed in the wider public realm. Later, I became increasingly aware of the ways in which systems and institutions, and the narratives they perpetuated, did not reflect or serve people like me, my family, and others who’ve experienced marginalization, and the damaging effects that can bore deep in one’s psyche and community as a result. I sought out art, media, literature, music, and personal testimonies that held up partial mirrors to my own experiences, broadened my understanding of the world, and challenged dominant narratives—each story building me back up bit by bit, until I came to realize that, for the stories I still longed to see but which didn’t yet exist, I could step forward and create my own.
MY WRITING
I’m the author of the story collection Last of Her Name, winner of a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and a California Book Award Silver Medal. The book has been taught in Creative Writing and Asian American Literature courses across the country. I’m also an ASME National Magazine Award finalist for my novella The Woman in the Closet. I write fiction, essays, and articles about Asian and Asian diasporic women and girls, art, belonging, resistance, and the creative process. My writing can be found in McSweeney’s, the Believer, the Virginia Quarterly Review, Lucky Peach, Hyphen, the South China Morning Post, and elsewhere. I’m currently working on a novel and a story collection. You can learn more about my writing here.
MY NONPROFIT NARRATIVE STRATEGY WORK
I’m the cofounder of Voice of Witness (VOW), an award-winning, field-shaping human rights & oral history nonprofit, and served as its executive director and executive editor for almost fifteen years. VOW amplifies the voices of people impacted by—and fighting against—injustice through a book series, multimedia storytelling, and a national education program.
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As well as creating story development initiatives and editorial processes, I produced and edited numerous nonfiction titles in the VOW book series, in collaboration with communities that have been shaped by the criminal justice system, migration, and displacement, including: Indigenous communities speaking to the long and ongoing fight to protect Native land, rights, and life (How We Go Home); Palestinians describing daily life in the occupied territories (Palestine Speaks); workers from the global economy fighting for labor rights and environmental protections (Invisible Hands); and former residents of Chicago public housing, whose stories illustrate environmental racism and the loss of community in the wake of forced displacement (High Rise Stories).
Multi-media storytelling partners include NPR and Magnum Foundation.
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Books from the VOW series have: been widely taught as part of core curricula in classrooms around the US; excerpted in outlets such as the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Nation; read aloud on the floor of Congress; and helped inform international labor advocacy efforts.
The ethical storytelling principles developed with my VOW colleagues have served as the foundation of partnerships with UCSF, Stanford Storytelling Project, San Francisco, Oakland, and New York Unified School Districts, and many others.
I founded Mimi Lok Coaching & Consulting with the goal of harnessing my years of experience in narrative strategy, writing, teaching, and coaching to meaningfully support social justice-centered organizations and leaders, and the communities we serve. I offer uniquely layered support to 1) individuals on leadership, narrative, and creativity, and 2) organizations fighting for justice and equity who want to strengthen their narrative capabilities.
I also teach writing on the MFA Fiction Program at the University of San Francisco.
SELECT AWARDS & SUPPORT
Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress, winner
San Francisco Arts Commission Changemaker Award, winner
PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, winner
California Book Award, silver medal
MacDowell / Charlotte Sheedy Fellow in Literature
National Magazine Award, finalist
Northern California Book Award, finalist
CLMP Firecracker Award, finalist
I’m grateful to have received support for my work from PEN America, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences, the Open Society Foundations, and others.
Mimi Lok speaking at BRAVE STORIES, BOLD MOVEMENTS, the 10th anniversary celebration for Voice of Witness. (Photo credit: Voice of Witness)
At BRAVE STORIES, BOLD MOVEMENTS. L-R: Mimi Lok; VOW narrator, writer, & educator Dr. Zaira Arvelo Alicea; author Piper Kerman; author Isabel Allende; VOW narrator and advocate for LGBT rights & immigrant youth Gabriel Méndez. (Photo credit: Voice of Witness)
ALSO…
In my spare time I enjoy cooking, learning piano, and thinking way too much about BTS. I’m a humble student of Vipassana meditation and Tai Chi.