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Selected publications by Kim Young-ha

Short stories in anthologies

Translations available online

  • Moving, Kim Chi-young 2004
  • The Suit (슈트), Words Without Borders 2014
  • The Man Who Sold His Shadow, Words Without Borders 2005

LBF sketch: Kim Young-ha at the London Book Fair: always adapting to a new environment

Kim Young-ha attended three London events during the this year’s London Book Fair: a conversation with writer Krys Lee on 8 April, a panel session with Kim In-suk and others on 9 April entitled  Writing Home: Migrant Literature, and a discussion with Daniel Hahn at the London Review Bookshop on 11 April. The below is a digest of those sessions. Introduction, themes, … [Read More]

London Book Fair, day 2

Day 2 of the London Book Fair, in which: Han Kang said very nice things about her translator (Deborah Smith) and Shin Kyung-sook called hers her “twin soul”; We discovered that Kim Young-ha was about to start writing a historical novel set in the Joseon dynasty, only to find out that Kim Insuk had already … [Read More]

The Korean Novels on Screen Programme at the KCC

The KCC, in conjunction with the British Council, has announced its programme of films inspired by Korean literature. Two and a half of the films have their original stories available in English translation. The ones available in English are The Road to Sampo and Leafie. The half-film is The Scarlet Letter, which is based both … [Read More]

Kim Young-ha: Black Flower – an imaginative re-telling of a fascinating byway of Korean history

Kim Young-ha: Black Flower Originally published in Korean as 검은 꽃 in 2003 This edition Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2012, 305pp, Translated by Charles La Shure Black Flower tells the fascinating story of a thousand or so Korean emigrants who sailed from Jemulpo (now Incheon) in 1905 in search of jobs in Mexico, and ended up … [Read More]

Kim Young-ha says: Be an artist, right now!

Kim Young-ha’s TED talk on Be an Artist, Right Now!, recorded in July 2010, but only recently uploaded to YouTube. Among other things, Kim speculates on what would have happened if Kafka had shown the first sentence of his Metamorphosis to his father: Had he shown his father, “My boy has finally lost it,” he … [Read More]

Jeonju Film Fest to focus on Kim Young-ha

This is the kind of news I like. This year the program of the Jeonju International Film Festival will include “short films based on Korean writers’ short stories, thereby creating opportunities for good Korean literature to be introduced overseas. The focus this year will be KIM Young-ha. KIM Young-ha’s novel, I have a right to … [Read More]

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

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 … [Read More]

Kim Young-ha in Amazon bestseller list

Kim Young-ha’s Your Republic is Calling You made it to #38 in Amazon’s bestseller list – the first Korean novel in the top 100. http://bit.ly/eLFkhL #. Joongang Ilbo article on Korean authors getting foreign recognition also mentions Shin Kyung-sook, Jo Kyung-ran and Hwang Sok-yong. [Read More]

Book Review: Your Republic is Calling You

Kim Young-ha: Your Republic is Calling You Translated by Kim Chi-young Harcourt, 2010. First published in Korean: 2006 Ki-yong, a North Korean agent, has lived undercover in Seoul for half his life. Inactive for the last 10 years, he is suddenly given an order to return home. Is the order a hoax? Is he being … [Read More]

Suicide Notes – a brief review of Kim Young-ha’s I Have the Right to Destroy Myself

Kim Young-ha: I have the right to destroy myself Originally published 1996 Translation by Kim Chi-young, Harcourt, 2007 An entertaining book to read, but somehow difficult to distill and digest. The narrator, who makes a macabre living as a self-employed suicide counselor, bizarrely seeks out clients whose exits he facilitates. A small and eccentric cast … [Read More]