This debut collection in English from Korean poet Moon Bo Young insists that you, as a reader, put down your expectations of what should be important or serious. While these poems are about god, death, love, and literature, they are also just as much about a hat with a herd of cows on it, science … [Read More]
Booklist: Literature Fiction and Poetry (page 18)
To the Warm Horizon
From the publisher’s website: A group of Koreans are making their way across a disease-ravaged landscape—but to what end? To the Warm Horizon shows how in a post-apocalyptic world, humans will still seek purpose, kinship, and even intimacy. Focusing on two young women, Jina and Dori, who find love against all odds, Choi Jin-young creates … [Read More]
Tiger Swallowtail (K-Poet 20)
It is a collection of poems in the domain of Tiger Swallowtail by Hwang Gyu-gwan, the 20th collection of poems by K-Poet. In 1993, he began his work by winning the Jeon Tae-il Literature Award and published poetry books such as Cheolsan-dong Post Office, Water Goes its Way, defeat is My Power, Waiting for the … [Read More]
On the Origin of Species and Other Stories
The debut English-language collection of one of South Korea’s most distinctive and accomplished sci-fi authors Straddling science fiction, fantasy and myth, the writings of award-winning author Bo-Young Kim have garnered a cult following in South Korea, where she is widely acknowledged as a pioneer and inspiration. On the Origin of Species makes available for the first time … [Read More]
The Forest of Stolen Girls
Suspenseful and richly atmospheric, June Hur’s The Forest of Stolen Girls is a haunting historical mystery sure to keep readers guessing until the last page. 1426, Joseon (Korea). Hwani’s family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest near a gruesome crime scene. Years later, … [Read More]
Catcalling
From the publisher’s website: Lee Soho’s debut collection of poems is an experimental lyric bildungsroman that confronts dynamics of abuse as it challenges poetic form. Catcalling exposes and ridicules the violences that the speaker-protagonist Kyungjin encounters as she navigates a patriarchal world. Divided in to five formally distinct sections – ranging from lyric to prose … [Read More]
Suicide Parasite (K-Poet 19)
This is a new collection of poems by poet Kim Seong-gyu, who made his debut in 2004 and persistently looked into the other side of his life by publishing poetry books such as 『You flew by mistake』 and 『When will Heaven collect the broken ones』. As can be seen in the title song “Suicide Parasite”, … [Read More]
Arriving in a Thick Fog
The four novellas in Arriving in a Thick Fog typify renowned Korean cult writer Jung Young Moon’s emphasis not on events, but on the meticulous and convoluted paths the narrator’s minds take as they navigate through life. Through a deep, filterless gaze into the narrator’s heads, Jung shares thorough musings that manage to be both spontaneous and … [Read More]
Happy Together (K-Fiction 029)
From the Interpark bookstore website (fed through the Google translation engine): The twenty-ninth work of K-fiction. This is a short story by Seo Jang-won that has been drawing attention by steadily publishing good works since his debut as the Dong-A Ilbo New Year’s Literature in 2020. Like in the previous works that carefully captured the … [Read More]
South Korea’s Webtooniverse and the Digital Comic Revolution
From the publisher’s website: This book investigates the meteoric rise of mobile webtoons – also known as webcomics – and the dynamic relationships between serialised content, artists, agencies, platforms and applications, as well as the global readership associated with them. It offers an engaging discussion of webtoons themselves, and what makes this new media form … [Read More]
I’m Waiting for You: And Other Stories
A stunning collection of short fiction by one of South Korea’s most treasured writers, available in English for the first time. ‘Her fiction is a breath-taking piece of a cinematic art itself. Reminiscent of the world we experienced in The Matrix, Inception, and Dark City, still it leads us to this entirely original structure, which … [Read More]
Yolk
From New York Times bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi comes a funny and emotional story about two estranged sisters and how far they’ll go to save one of their lives – even if it means swapping identities. Jayne and June Baek are nothing alike. June’s three years older, a classic first-born, know-it-all narc with a problematic finance … [Read More]
My Brilliant Life
From the publisher’s website: “A moving, earnest, and deeply-felt exploration of a unique family in all its joys and disappointments . . . an utter delight.” — Claire Lombardo, New York Times bestselling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had My Brilliant Life explores family bonds and out-of-the-ordinary friendships, interweaving the past and present of a tight-knit family, finding joy … [Read More]
Tower
Tower is a series of interconnected stories set in Beanstalk, a 674-story skyscraper and sovereign nation. Each story deals with how citizens living in the hypermodern high-rise deal with various influences of power in their lives: a group of researchers have to tell their boss that a major powerbroker is a dog, a woman uses … [Read More]
Homo Maskus (K-Poet 18)
From the listing at Interpark: The year that started with masks is ending with masks. How often have I left my mask behind and had to go back for it? Looking back, it’s all my fault. The past days of heedless living are observing my behavior closely today. (Poet’s Note) The poems of things that … [Read More]
Holiday Home (K-Fiction 028)
As this is an Asia Publishers title, it’s pretty difficult to obtain outside of Korea. Text from the listing on the Kyobo website, fed through the Papago translation engine: Pyeon Hye-young’s short novel captures the touch of a catastrophe. It is the 28th K-fiction film. A Korean-English version of “Holiday Home” by Pyun Hye-young, a … [Read More]