H.G. Yoon was born in South Korea. As a little boy, he was fascinated by legends, and he often created his own stories and told them to his friends. He attended Los Angeles City College (LACC) and published his first short story in English, “Room 203,” in LACC’s literary
magazine.

At California State University, Los Angeles (CSLA), he published two blank-verse poems,
“Crimson Flower” and “Liver Spots,” in CSLA’s literary magazine, and he received “The
Academy of American Poets 2000 Henri Coulette Memorial Award.” He graduated CSLA with a BA in English and continued in the graduate program. He wrote a blank-verse poetry collection for his English M.A. thesis, Birds of Paradise, and earned an M.A. in English with Distinguished Honor. He also obtained another M.A. degree in TESOL and wrote Teaching ESL with Literature for his M.A. thesis.

He taught at Los Angeles City Community Colleges for a couple of years, but his main teaching experience was at Latino majority inner-city middle and high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. After over 20 years of teaching, he took early retirement so that he could pursue his dream of becoming a full-time writer. He lives in Southern California with his partner Charlie, his dog (Sunny), and his two cats (Gracie and Jake).