General book news

Eerie Tales from Old Korea – republished 100 years on

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by Philip Gowman on 9 May, 2013

in Books on traditional culture | General book news | Korean literature in translation

100 years ago, Homer B Hulbert and James Scarth Gale translated and published “Eerie Tales from Old Korea”, a collection of Korean ghost stories. Now Brother Anthony of Taize has handpicked some of those tales, and Seoul Selection has republished them to celebrate the 150th birthdays of Gale and Hulbert. It’s definitely going on to [...]

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Orphan Master wins Pulitzer

by Philip Gowman 16 April 2013
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At LKL we were lukewarm, but we don’t mind being in the minority. So congratulations to Adam Johnson for winning the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, “for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life,” with The Orphan Master’s Son. Source: www.pulitzer.org Authors: Adam Johnson

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Overview of the Korean Publishing Market at the London Book Fair 2013

by Philip Gowman 1 April 2013
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Korea is the Market Focus for the London Book Fair 2014, and with the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature coming up next month it’s good that we have two Korea / Asia-related talks at the London Book Fair – one on Translation, with participation from Deborah Smith (@londonkoreanist) and this one, a presentation from [...]

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Translation flows in Asia: panel session at the London Book Fair 2013

by Philip Gowman 1 April 2013
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Korea is the Market Focus for the London Book Fair 2014, and with the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature coming up next month it’s good that we have two Korea / Asia-related talks at the London Book Fair – this panel session with participation from Deborah Smith (@londonkoreanist) and the other a presentation from [...]

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Royal Ancestors makes it onto Amazon.com

by Philip Gowman 4 February 2013
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I was taken a bit by surprise when I was introduced at the KCCUK’s firth birthday dinner as “Author of Royal Ancestors and Ancient Remedies.” I had almost forgotten. But coincidentally, a correspondent has just told me that it’s now available on Amazon.com. Some enterprising organisation has picked up a free copy or two from [...]

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You followed the blog, now buy the book

by Philip Gowman 12 January 2013
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You’ll probably have visited Kim Jong Il Looking at Things once in a while for some gentle entertainment at the expense of the late Dear Leader and his propaganda unit. The blog closed in December 2012, a year after his death, but now you can buy the book, from Jean Boîte Éditions, price EUR24 plus [...]

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The London Korean Links Awards 2012

by Philip Gowman 31 December 2012
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The seventh eclectic and highly personal commemoration of the best of the past year. Personality of the Year Runner up There were plenty of personalities in the South Korean Olympic team, particularly the pistol shooters, archers and the gymnasts. But the athlete that everyone will remember is fencer Shin A-lam, cheated out of a place [...]

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The London Book Fair Announces Market Focus 2014: Korea

by Philip Gowman 11 December 2012
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LONDON/SEOUL, UK, 11 December, 2012 — The London Book Fair and The Korean Publishers Association have announced Korea as the Market Focus of The London Book Fair 2014. The launch event at Asia House today was attended by The London Book Fair, The Korean Publishers Association and LBF Market Focus strategic partners, the British Council [...]

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Kim Young-ha longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize

by Philip Gowman 4 December 2012
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It’s nice to see that the book I’m currently reading, Kim Young-ha’s Black Flower (검은 꽃), has been longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Last year, Shin Kyung-sook’s Please Look After Mother won it. Can Korea make it two years running? At LKL, we loved Kim Young-ha’s Your Republic Is Calling You, and found [...]

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Am I alone among Korea-followers in being a huge fan of Martin Limón?

by Philip Gowman 30 October 2012
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Having read all seven of his previous novels, I’m delighted to have discovered that the 8th was published a few weeks ago. He might have thrown historical credibility to the winds this time round, but who cares? It sounds an absolute blast: Seoul, early 1970s: US Army Sergeant George Sueño is on a mission of [...]

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KTLit reviews Kim Young-ha’s “Black Flower”

by Philip Gowman 28 October 2012
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It’s a translation I’ve been waiting for for ages, and finally it’s out. Charles over at KTLit.com has the scoop with a very early review, but I’m not going to look until I’ve read the book myself. Every other book on my reading pile will be pushed aside. This one is top priority. It’s out [...]

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New publication: Hanji Unfurled

by Philip Gowman 28 October 2012
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If you were inspired to find out more about hanji by Im Kwon-taek’s Scooping the Moonlight and Kim Hong-joon’s related making-of documentary, quite by chance Legacy Press published a book on it last week. It’s gone straight onto my Amazon wishlist Top Scholar and Artist Writes First American Book on Korean Papermaking (October 23, 2012, [...]

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Another book on the DPRK hits the bookshops

by Philip Gowman 27 August 2012
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I always get depressed when I see a new book on the DPRK, because the DPRK is a depressing subject. Plus, it’s the thought that people are spending their lives trying to figure out this unfathomable regime. It’s the thought that there’s another 500 pages which I feel I ought to read, but which if [...]

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Korean authors Shin Kyung-sook and Krys Lee visit Edinburgh Book Fest

by Philip Gowman 25 August 2012
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We’ve all heard of the Edinburgh International Festival and its fringe; and of the Edinburgh Film Festival. Each year there’s sure to be Korean interest at these events. But this year another festival held at the same time, the Edinburgh Book Festival, together with the World Writers Conference, hosted Korea’s two most famous younger generation [...]

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Korea develops taste for British mummy porn

by Philip Gowman 24 August 2012
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EL James’s Fifty Shades trilogy is being translated into Korean, and Volume 1 immediately became the country’s bestselling novel and e-book, according to the Korea Times, who in common with most others is pretty sniffy about the novels’ quality. How the translator managed to turn a 528 page English book into 780 pages of Korean [...]

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Damn! I’ve run out of shelf space

by Philip Gowman 22 August 2012
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I’ve run out of shelf space, so I have no room for the recently issued Volume 17 (enlarged edition) of Kim Jong-il’s selected works. Now I’ll never get the full set, or find out how to “More Firmly Strengthen Socialist Revolutionary Position by Doing Party Work Well”.

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John Everard launches “Only Beautiful Please”

by Philip Gowman 8 July 2012
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Former UK ambassador to Pyongyang John Everard has just launched his book “Only Beautiful Please” at a talk to the Korea Society. He caused a stir by saying North Koreans don’t like the Chinese, which links in with something the defector Kim Joo-il said in a letter to the FT in September 2010: North Koreans [...]

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Asia Literary Review Spring Edition is 100% Korean

by Philip Gowman 7 May 2012
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This month is the Festival of Asian Literature at Asia House. It’s been a strong year for Korean literature, with Shin Kyung-sook winning the Man Asia Literary Prize as well as being longlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Award 2012. There’s an upcoming translation of a novel by Kim Young-ha, and Krys Lee has been [...]

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Jo Jung-rae’s Taebaek Mountains to be translated

by Philip Gowman 3 May 2012
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Fans of Im Kwon-taek’s Taebaek Mountains will be pleased to hear that soon you’ll be able to read an English translation of Jo Jung-rae’s epic novel on which it was based, 태백산맥. More details on the Knowledge Pen website. (Via KTLit). But it could take a while – it’s 10 volumes long. Authors: Jo Jung-rae [...]

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Shin Kyung-sook’s acceptance speech for the Man Asian Literary Prize

by Philip Gowman 18 March 2012
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What could be more appropriate for Mother’s Day? Shin Kyung-sook’s acceptance speech on winning the Man Asian Literary prize for Please Look After Mother: (via Otherwhere) Authors: Shin Kyung-sook (신경숙)

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Shin Kyung-sook nominated for another award

by Philip Gowman 8 March 2012
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Congratulations to Shin Kyung-sook, nominated for another award for Please Look After Mother: the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012 bit.ly/xcJBkZ Authors: Shin Kyung-sook (신경숙)

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