Cheon Myeong-Kwan and Han Yujoo are being made to work hard during their visit to London in support of the special Korea issue of the Asia Literary Review. Asia House on 10 May (with Deborah Smith), SOAS on 12 May (again with Deborah Smith), and KCC on 13 May (with Kelly Falconer):
Korean Literature Night: The Modern Korean Family – Function or Dysfunction?
Date/Time: Fri 13 May 2016 18.30
Venue: Korean Cultural Centre UK Library
Entrance Free. Booking Essential
Apply to [email protected] or call 020 7004 2600 with your name and contact details by 22 April 2016.
Available Seats: 30
– the booking system utilises a lottery based programme that picks names at random, when the applicants are over 30 and once the final selection has been drawn we will send you an e-mail regarding the result of the selection.
We are pleased to announce that our monthly discussion group, the Korean Literature Night in partnership with the Asia Literary Review will present a special session in May featuring two Korean authors, Cheon Myeong-kwan and Han Yujoo.
This special one-off event will explore the topic: ‘The Modern Korean Family-Function or Dysfuntion?’ and there will be spaces for 30 guests, as opposed to the normal 15.
For centuries, the ties that bind Korean families have been the foundation of life in this most Confucian of societies. In no other country has mutual support and obligation between family members been more codified and observed. However, the modern world has been tearing apart these traditions. The openness of Korea over the past generation to the world’s influences has given individuals stronger notions of egalitarianism and independence. The internet has only supercharged the pace of these changes. Furthermore, the stark challenges of a mature, urbanized economy have forced individuals to think more for themselves than for the family, sometimes as the only means of self-preservation.
An increasing number of contemporary Korean writers have made the upending of family relationships a key theme of their stories. The Asia Literary Review (a quarterly literary magazine), in conjunction with the KCCUK, invites you to meet two outstanding Korean authors who have given fresh voice to examining these trends.
Cheon Myeong-Kwan (left) and Han Yujoo
Cheon Myeong-kwan was born in Yong-in, South Korea, in 1964. He is the author of Modern Family, translated into English through White Pine Press in 2015. Prior to becoming a novelist, he worked as a screenwriter. His literary debut, the short story Frank and I, earned the Munhakdongnae New Writer Award (2003). His first novel, The Whale, received the Munhakdongnae Award for Best Novel in 2004.
Han Yujoo has written three short story collections and the novel The Impossible Fairy Tale, which will be published by Graywolf Press in 2017. She is a translator of Michael Ondaatje and Geoff Dyer, among others, and teaches at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Korea University’s Department of Creative Writing.
The discussion will be moderated by Kelly Falconer, founder of the Asia Literary Agency.
Copies of the current issue of the Asia Literary Review magazine which includes short fiction pieces by these authors and other outstanding Korean literary talent will be available for collection at the KCCUK once you have received the confirmation e-mail.
We are pleased to announce that our monthly discussion group, the Korean Literature Night in partnership with the Asia Literary Review will present a special session in May featuring two Korean authors, Cheon Myeong-kwan and Han Yujoo.
