For readers of Han Kang and Sheila Heti, an atmospheric, melancholic novel about a successful sculptor who decides to commit suicide by artfully preparing and deliberately eating a lethal dish of blowfish. Blowfish is a postmodern novel in four parts, alternating between the respective stories of a female sculptor and a male architect. Death is … [Read More]
Booklist: Korean literature in translation (page 5)
Hunger
A woman sees her man murdered on the street – and time stands still. Until she cradles his corpse to her chest and carries it home, where she disinfects every inch of skin before seating herself to begin. What happens next reverberates from this realm into the next, where the man is witnessing his own … [Read More]
The Second Chance Convenience Store
In this million-copy international bestseller from Korea, the owner of a corner store takes in an unhoused man who does a good deed, a kind soul whose presence will transform the whole neighborhood—a heartwarming tale of community and redemption reminiscent of the bestselling novels of Matt Haig and Gabrielle Zevin. Dok-go lives in Seoul Station. … [Read More]
To the Moon
The bestselling South Korean phenomenon, To the Moon is a bittersweet tale of wealth and class, female friendship, and the promise of the future when good fortune seems to be just around the corner. In Seoul, three young women meet while working mundane desk jobs at a confectionary manufacturer. They become fast friends, taking their conversations out … [Read More]
Broccoli Punch
A collection of short stories flirting with the surreal and Kafkaesque: a father whose ashes turn into a chatting plant, a boyfriend whose hand becomes a broccoli, a group of investigative aliens fascinated by idol culture. Yuri’s world is permeated with humour, emotions, and style, giving us a refreshing perspective into the complexities of human … [Read More]
The Wizard’s Bakery
The award-winning, shocking Korean bestseller, a unique tale where magic comes at a price. Open twenty-four hours a day in a quiet Seoul neighbourhood, The Wizard’s Bakery seems like any other where you can buy bread, cakes, and pastries, with a somewhat grumpy man behind the counter. For a desperate runaway teen, it’s a refuge … [Read More]
Failed Summer Vacation
“This summer vacation is not a complete failure quite yet – there’s still a lot left we can ruin.” The debut collection of genre-defying short stories from the Korean Literature and Society’s New Writer Award. Seven diversely wild and gripping stories – dreamy, dark, lyrical and wry – that expose the oddness of how we … [Read More]
Phantom Limbs
First published in Korean in 2005, Phantom Limbs is Lee Min-ha’s debut book of poetry. Critically lauded for its visceral imagery and world-building through word-play, this collection of surreal and fabulistic poems reminds readers that poems are spells and incantations. Lee Min-ha is a Korean poet based in Seoul. She is the author of five … [Read More]
Red Sword
Red Sword is the mesmerizing and haunting English-language debut novel by International Booker Prize-shortlisted author Bora Chung. Expertly translated by Anton Hur, this speculative fiction unfolds on a distant, war-ravaged planet where advanced technologies wreak havoc and devastation. Told in sparse, evocative prose, a slave-turned-reluctant hero must traverse the alien terrain to uncover the truth … [Read More]
Snowglobe 2
The groundbreaking Korean phenomenon that Entertainment Weekly called “The Hunger Games meets Squid Game” continues with even more dark secrets and shocking surprises. The temperature is rising and the truth at the center of Chobahm’s frozen world will be revealed in the final installment of this epic dystopian saga. Chobahm’s perfect life in Snowglobe came … [Read More]
Okchundang Candy
I still remember that house filled with summer… Growing up, Jung-soon spent every moment she could at her grandparents’ house. Dressing up and watching cartoons. Dyeing each other’s fingernails with crushed balsam petals. Getting the whole neighborhood together to sweep their streets. Falling asleep together…just the three of them, happy. Grandfather was Grandmother’s best and … [Read More]
A Thousand Blues
It’s only when we slow down that we can truly experience joy … 2035: In the shadow of a race course, a young woman finds a robot named Coli on a scrap heap, contemplating the sky. Intrigued, she takes Coli into her care and learns how the robot is designed to be a humanoid jockey … [Read More]
Counterattacks at Thirty
From the bestselling author of ALMOND, The Devil Wears Prada meets The Office in this witty, humane, and ultimately transformative story of a group of young workers who rebel against the status quo. Jihye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary. In her administrative job at the Academy, she silently tolerates office politics … [Read More]
Hidden Heroes: Anthology of North Korean Fiction
Hidden Heroes is a collection of short stories from the 1980s to present that unveil the lives of ordinary North Koreans. Through themes of identity, community, and power, it reveals a complex society, offering readers a nuanced understanding beyond prevailing stereotypes Hidden Heroes offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the lives of ordinary North … [Read More]
Snowy Day and Other Stories
The first story collection published in English by Lee Chang-dong, one of South Korea’s most celebrated and influential literary and cinematic figures. Much like Lee Chang-dong’s internationally renowned films (Burning, Secret Sunshine, and Poetry), these brilliant, unsettling tales, originally published in Korea in the 1980s and now translated into English for the first time, investigate … [Read More]
We Do Not Part
In her biggest book since The Vegetarian, the new novel from Han Kang tells the story of a friendship, taking us on a journey from South Korea into its painful history. One morning in December, Kyungha receives a message from her friend Inseon saying she has been hospitalized in Seoul and asking that Kyungha join her urgently. … [Read More]