Strangers Press, which brought us Yeoyu, a series of eight translated short story chapbooks in 2019, this week released a follow-up. The new series is entitled Iyagi and features works by both established and emerging authors – including what seems to be a posthumously published work by Park Wansuh.
“Each of these eight stories tells multiple stories at the same time, many of them layered or wryly ironic, all of them hugely enjoyable and carefully presented in exquisitely designed chapbook form as a kind of literary tapas banquet for you to get your reading chops into.”
Here’s the full list:
- Sang Young Park tr Anton Hur: Knockoff Viagra & Jeje (중국산 모조 비아그라와 제제 어디에도 고이지 못하는 소변에 대한 짧은 농담, 2018)
- Serang Chung tr Anton Hur: Take My Voice (목소리를 드릴게요, 2020)
- Seo Ije tr Rachel Min Park: Towards 0% (0%를 향하여, 2021)
- Han Junghyun tr Emily Yae Won: Kyoko and Kyoji (쿄코와 쿄지, 2021)
- Kwak Jaesik tr Yun Hyowon: The Greatest Gamble On Earth (지상 최대의 내기, 2019)
- Lee Ji-min tr Paige Aniyah Morris: Walk With A Goddess (여신과의 산책, 2012)
- Park Min-jung tr Clare Richards: Like A Barbie (바비의 분위기, 2020)
- Park Wan-suh tr Soobin Kim: For That Which Cannot Be Restored (복원되지 못한 것들을 위하여, 2020)
While you should ultimately be able to buy the titles on Amazon, they’re cheaper if you buy the whole set direct from the publisher, and for the first week there’s an extra £5 off. We’ve already placed our order.
We understand that this series is curated by Anton Hur, who at the time of writing is in town with Sang Young Park promoting Love in the Big City and has two translations in the Foyles bestseller list: the massive-selling BTS – Beyond the Story co-translated with Clare Richards and Slin Jung (which is also #1 in the New Year Times bestseller list) and Baek Sehee’s I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, which has just come out in paperback. (Incidentally, the Foyles list also includes Deborah Smith’s and Emily Yae Won’s translation of Han Kang’s Greek Lessons. It must surely be some form of milestone that three translated titles are in the bestseller list which includes English language fiction by Stephen King among others). Anton Hur’s translation of Djuna’s Counterweight has just been released.
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