American · b. 1989
Michelle Zauner is an American musician, writer and filmmaker. She was born in Seoul to a Korean mother and an American father and grew up in Eugene, Oregon. She fronts the indie rock project Japanese Breakfast, which she started in 2013 after her mother died of cancer. The band has released albums including Psychopomp, Soft Sounds from Another Planet, Jubilee and For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women). Jubilee earned Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist. Her essay about grief and H Mart, published in The New Yorker in 2018, became the basis of her 2021 memoir Crying in H Mart, which reached the New York Times bestseller list and was widely read. She also wrote the score for the video game Sable and has directed music videos. In 2025 she published a second book, a collection of essays titled Where Light Gets In. Her work draws on Korean American identity, food and loss.