“I’m delighted to be able to introduce my book to fellow plant parents across the anglophone world. In 2025, we need the wisdom of each and every individual in our communities, now more than ever. During this time, I hope that the stories of plants – their concentrated wisdom unfolding according to the laws of … [Read More]
Booklist: Translated non-fiction
When We Look at Each Other [forthcoming]
An ode to the realities of aging, this is an honest but tender look at the challenges of caring for a relative with dementia, of how our role within the family unit evolves, and a celebration of spending precious time with those we love. Written in warm and reflective prose, it explores the author’s relationship … [Read More]
So What If I Love My Single Life [forthcoming]
So What If I Love My Single Life by YouTuber Seen Aromi, who has captivated 400,000 readers, covers everything you need to live alone successfully. If you want to live a fulfilling day all by yourself, this book is a must-read. When you say you want to live alone, you often hear nagging from people … [Read More]
Ramen Makes us Complete [forthcoming]
In this world, there are two types of food: ramen and non-ramen. Yoon Ina takes ramen seriously. She makes sure to try new flavours as soon as they come out, always has enough packets stocked in the pantry, has developed her own principles and theories for making good ramen, and even keeps up to date … [Read More]
Korean Buddhism: Selected Readings from Primary Texts
This book presents the first comprehensive introduction to Korean Buddhism through twenty-five key primary texts spanning the seventh to twenty-first centuries. All have been expertly translated by leading scholars in the field. The volume introduction provides an overview of major themes that illuminates the diverse sources that follow. The texts, each prefaced by a brief … [Read More]
Not Everything Unfolds as Anticipated: Selections from Yi Kyubo’s Tongguk Yi Sangguk chip
Yi Kyubo (1168–1241) was the foremost writer and poet of the Koryŏ dynasty (918–1392). Not Everything Unfolds as Anticipated is a miscellany of work from his Tongguk Yi Sangguk chip, a collection containing more than two thousand texts and considered the earliest substantial oeuvre of a Koryŏ writer to date. The present work comprises translations … [Read More]
The Psychology of Luck: Korean Secrets for Attracting Wealth and Success
Praised as a book that ‘brings you luck the moment you open it’, this book contains lessons on how to understand – and use – the psychology of luck. Why are successful people so obsessed with luck? Because they want to draw things of value to them. The average person will experience at least a … [Read More]
Lady No
From the legendary avant-garde poet Kim Hyesoon, a landmark collection documenting her first and only work of digital performance art to date. “Poetry in Korea has been a vaunted form — and traditionally left to men. Kim broke away from the masculine styles that came before her… Kim has pursued a vernacular that’s intensely Korean … [Read More]
Korean Relations with Japan and Ryūkyū In the Early Chosŏn Period: A Translation of Sin Sukchu’s Haedong Chegukki
Between 1392 and 1592 — a period bounded by Japanese pirate raids along the Korean coast and Japan’s invasion of Chosŏn Korea — more than 4,600 Japanese trade missions were recorded by the Chosŏn government. In response to these missions, the famous official Sin Sukchu compiled regulations, detailed information about Japanese contacts, and other material, … [Read More]
Light and Thread
In this light-filled and multi-faceted book, her first since being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Han Kang draws together the threads of her work and life, tracing the connections between her interior and exterior worlds through a sequence of essays, poems, photographs and diaries. A book of reflections, of words and light, it has … [Read More]
A Theory of Happiness: Lessons from a 100 year old Korean Philosopher
What does real happiness look like? How can we find true purpose, meaning and connection in our finite time on Earth? 105-year-old Professor Kim reveals key aspects of ancient Korean philosophy and shares stories from over a century of living to help us live better. Showing us how to lean into the world with more … [Read More]
Martyr of Blood, Martyr of Sweat: The Letters of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon and Venerable Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop
Korea is remarkable as the only country on earth where the Catholic faith emerged even before the arrival of missionaries. Forming an improvised community of believers, the first Korean Catholics desperately desired priests to say the Mass and administer the sacraments. Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon (1821-1846) and Venerable Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop (1821-1861) were the … [Read More]
Two Women Living Together
At some point between living alone and becoming single, Hwang Sunwoo and Kim Hana found each other, and decided to live together in a nice apartment where their four cats would finally have the freedom to run around. Together they became a family – and redefined it. At a time housing costs have skyrocketed whilst … [Read More]
The Invention of a Language of Emptiness: The “Chojang chungga-ŭi,” the Earliest Korean Exposition of Buddhism
This volume is the first annotated translation in any language of the “Chojang chungga-ŭi” (The Meaning of the “Middle” and the “Provisional” in the “First Stanza”), a little-known text that yielded considerable influence on early East Asian Buddhism. It corresponds to the first chapter of the Taesŭng saron hyŏnŭi ki (Notes on the Four Treatises[, belonging to … [Read More]
Reprimands and Admonitions: Reflections on the Japanese Invasions of Korea, 1592-1598
Reprimands and Admonitions (Chingbirok 懲毖錄) is a record of the events surrounding the Imjin War (1592–1598). In the work, government minister Ryu Sŏngnyong vividly portrays all the major developments of the crisis. This revised translation by Choi Byonghyon brings to the modern reader the author’s seasoned wisdom and sincere efforts to overcome national crises. Ryu … [Read More]
The Courage To Die: A North Korean Woman’s Escape and Rebirth in Freedom
The Courage to Die is the powerful true story of Eunhee Park, the child of divorced parents and a mother lost to mental illness, who endured years of hunger and indoctrination in a North Korean orphanage where survival meant silence. Raised by her disabled grandfather and strong-willed grandmother, Eunhee faced abandonment, loss, and the rigid control of … [Read More]