“The bloodstains on the linoleum were impossible to remove completely.” A madcap, sci-fi, found-family caper set in a world where a small group of people, known as ‘monsters’, have developed odd special powers or traits necessitating their voluntary, or less voluntary, incarceration while the state works out what to do with them and which builds to a wonderfully comic set-piece, charmingly … [Read More]
Booklist: Short Stories (page 3)
Towards 0%
“Despite the hordes of people packing the theatre that day, I can’t remember a single face.” An extended meditation on the world of Korean cinema, the blockbuster versus the independent artist, its trends and its characters and role in society, seen through the eyes of a film enthusiast narrator and their interactions with those around them, each … [Read More]
Kyoko and Kyoji
“My name is きょうこ, Kyoko, I am Korean … I have something important to tell you.” A subtly disorienting story of reminiscences between a mother and daughter as they each in their own way struggle with the effects of the mother’s encroaching dementia. As they each try to piece together the fragments of a traumatic history, through doing so they tell … [Read More]
The Greatest Gamble On Earth
“If I had to choose the richest person whom I would call a friend, I would pick Han Seung-hui.” A reconnection with an old friend leads to an intriguing party invite with surprising results and, through this simple tale and the progress of a single relationship, but from separate and very different worlds, a deeper story is told of contemporary society and class. About the … [Read More]
Walk With A Goddess
“Are you referring to the ‘strange and sorrowful coincidences’? That’s what I call them. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but they’re no ordinary, everyday thing, just so we’re clear.” A young woman rumoured to be possed of a strange supernatural ability and a young man take a walk. As she tells him her story … [Read More]
Like A Barbie
“Met her again today. I finally got my hands on her, but still can’t believe what she put me through all that time. Attaching her face here. K-Bot.jpg” A story of a young student’s tribulations and those of the people around her which says a lot about the process of coming of age in contemporary Korean society … [Read More]
For That Which Cannot Be Restored
“I simply shrugged at her like a westerner, which did nothing to temper the bottled-up shame and simmering anger within me.” A cranky woman of letters ends up investigating after a story submitted for a writing competition at a government sponsored magazine is pulled from publication by its author, and in doing so finds a … [Read More]
The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories
This eclectic, moving and richly enjoyable collection is the essential introduction to Korean literature. Journeying through Korea’s dramatic recent past, from the Japanese occupation and colonial era to the devastating war between north and south and the rapid, disorienting urbanization of later decades, The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories captures a hundred years of vivid storytelling. … [Read More]
Last Night, in My Dream (K-Fiction 032)
A narrative of hurt and repentance through the stories of three generations of women. In her author’s note, Jung says that she wrote this novel because she wanted to “tell a story about illness, money, and grace”. The novel tells the story of three generations of mothers and daughters, starting with the maternal grandmother, who … [Read More]
Death of a Crow
The 1957 publication of this inaugural collection of short stories on the 1948 uprising on Jeju Island was to inform the world of the incident Kim Sok-pom has devoted his writing career to raising awareness of the Jeju April 3 Incident through literature. Death of a Crow (1957) marked the beginning of his campaign; known … [Read More]
The Age of Doubt
The Age of Doubt collects some of Pak Kyongni’s most famous works, including her 1955 debut and other stories featuring characters that would appear in her 21-volume epic, Toji. Many of Pak’s stories reflect her own turbulent experiences during the period following the Korean war and the various South Korean dictatorships throughout the twentieth century. … [Read More]
The Partition
Twenty-one years after the publication of his landmark debut collection Yellow, Don Lee returns to the short story form for his sixth book, The Partition. The Partition is an updated exploration of Asian American identity, this time with characters who are presumptive model minorities in the arts, academia, and media. Spanning decades, these nine novelistic stories traverse an … [Read More]
The World You Want to See (K-Fiction 031)
To face the real in a world full of fake news. The novel is set in a world where smart devices called ‘agents’ have become commercially available. As the title of the novel suggests, the Agent is a device that delivers only the world that the user wants to see, whether it’s pure, glorified, or … [Read More]
Skinship
WINNER OF THE PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE • LONGLISTED FOR THE STORY PRIZE • The breathtaking debut of an important new voice—centered on a constellation of Korean American families “To encounter these achingly truthful, beautiful stories of newcomer Americans is like gazing up at the starry vault of a perfect night sky; it’s immediately dazzling and impressive, and yet the … [Read More]
Cursed Bunny
Cursed Bunny is a genre-defying collection of short stories by Korean author Bora Chung. Blurring the lines between magical realism, horror, and science-fiction, Chung uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society. Anton Hur’s translation skilfully captures the way Chung’s prose … [Read More]
Gold Rush (K-Fiction 030)
“Gold Rush” by Su-jin Seo, an epic of the cool end The 30th work of K-Fiction. Writer Seo Su-jin’s short story ‘Gold Rush’ tells the story of Seo-in and Jin-woo, a couple living in Australia. Writer Sujin Seo started her work after receiving the Hankyoreh Literary Award in 2020 for 『Korean Teacher』, and currently lives … [Read More]