Here is what we believe is a pretty comprehensive list of multi-author anthologies of modern Korean fiction (and one anthology of modern Korean memoirs) translated into English. Click on the titles or book cover to go to a list of short stories included in the anthology. The titles are sorted in date of publication, most recent first.
| Book | Cover image |
Korean Art from 1953: Collision, Innovation, Interaction Publisher description: Starting with the armistice that divided the Korean Peninsula in 1953, this one-of-a-kind book spotlights the artistic movements and collectives that have flourished and evolved throughout Korean culture over the past seven decades – from the 1950s avant-garde through to the feminist scene in the 1970s, the birth of the Gwangju Biennale in […] (Amazon link) | |
Readymade Bodhisattva Readymade Bodhisattva: The Kaya Anthology of South Korean Science Fiction presents the first book-length English-language translation of science and speculative fiction from South Korea, bringing together 13 classic and contemporary stories from the 1960s through the 2010s. From the reimagining of an Asimovian robot inside the walls of a Buddhist temple and a postapocalyptic showdown […] (Amazon link) | |
Silvery World and Other Stories This anthology is an exciting new collection of Korean fiction in translation from the early years of the twentieth century that demonstrate the political and ideological divides that Koreans experienced during this time. Contains the following stories: Cho Myŏng-hŭi : Naktong River tr Bro. Anthony of Taize Ch’oe Chansik: The Shore tr Eugene Larsen-Hallock Hong […] (Amazon link) | |
Gendered Landscapes: Short Fiction by Modern and Contemporary Korean Women Novelists Gendered Landscapes presents ten short stories and novellas by representative modern Korean women writers dating from the 1930s to the end of the 1990s. Signature pieces selected from the acclaimed novelists’ repertoire, these narratives address issues related to Korean women as gendered beings in a Confucian-governed patriarchal society. Thematically interlinked and compellingly articulated, they bring […] (Amazon link) | |
An Anthology of Traditional Korean Literature This revised, expanded anthology, compiled and edited by pioneering scholar and translator Peter H. Lee, offers a representative selection of traditional Korean literature. Its rich and diverse selections, covering all genres and forms written in classical (literary) Chinese and the vernacular Korean language, were chosen for both their literary merit and socio-historical engagement with their […] (Amazon link) | |
North Korean Writers in Exile PEN Literature (VOLUME Book 4) North Korean Writers in Exile PEN Center is the 144th member of PEN International. Since defecting from North Korea because of their opposition to the dynastic dictatorship, the members of the center have been creating literature that depicts the harsh reality of North Korea and engaging in various activities to improve conditions there. The single […] (Amazon link) | |
Classical Writings of Korean Women This work is a collection of essays travelogues written by women during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The work ranges from a eulogy for a broken needle to a travelogue describing various trips to scenic spots on the Korean peninsula, including to the Keum-Gang Mountains. Now available in English, this collection gives us a sampler of […] (Link to eBook / PDF / online text) | |
The Future of Silence – Fiction by Korean Women These nine stories span half a century of contemporary writing in Korea (1970s–2010s), bringing together some of the most famous twentieth-century women writers with a new generation of young, bold voices. Their work explores a world not often seen in the West, taking us into the homes, families, lives and psyches of Korean women, men, […] (Amazon link) LKL Review | |
Rat Fire: Korean Stories from the Japanese Empire This volume brings together twelve short stories by colonial Korean proletarian writers, as well as two works written in 1946 under U.S. military occupation. The volume provides a diverse, ever-changing portrait of the complex movements of people and ideas that constituted both colonial Korea and the Japanese empire, adding the tumultuous experiences of those from […] (Amazon link) | |
Modern Korean Literature — An Anthology 1908-65 The sixth book in Kegan Paul International’s “Korean Culture Series”, this volume contains thirty stories that have been selected on the basis of historical interest and literary worth, each representing a monumental moment in the history of Korean Literature. The ten stories in the first part share the common theme of the Korean experience of […] (Amazon link) LKL Review | |
Exploring North Korean Arts Publisher description: This book is a cooperation between the MAK and the University of Vienna and contains a number of in-depth essays by international writers on a wide spectrum of issues, and with much detailed background information. The relationship between art and ideology is examined, how modern and traditional values are dealt with, as well as […] (Amazon link) | |
Waxen Wings: The ACTA Koreana Anthology of Short Fiction from Korea The short story has been the genre of choice for writers of literary fiction in modern Korea and it continues to thrive in the new millennium. Waxen Wings: The Acta Koreana Anthology of Short Fiction from Korea offers a diverse sampling from a century of modern Korean short fiction, beginning with stories from two early […] (Amazon link) LKL Review | |
On the Eve of the Uprising and Other Stories from Colonial Korea Collected here are translations into English of six classic stories from colonial Korea (1910-1945) as well as the time of liberation (1945-1948). Each piece takes a different perspective on a defining process in Korean history—the colonization and modernization under Japanese rule. The volume demonstrates the rich variety of registers, settings, styles, and thematic concerns that […] (Amazon link) | |
A Moment’s Grace: Stories from Korea in Transition A Moment’s Grace presents short stories that depict the core of Korea’s modernization, from Liberation in 1945 to the Seoul Olympics in 1988. The stories here provide a view of the process through the eyes of ordinary people as they were affected by the historical and social forces that formed modern Korea. A separate background […] (Amazon link) | |
Questioning Minds Available for the first time in English, the ten short stories by modern Korean women collected here touch in one way or another on issues related to gender and kinship politics. All of the protagonists are women who face personal crises or defining moments in their lives as gender-marked beings in a Confucian, patriarchal Korean […] (Amazon link) | |
The Red Room Modern Korean fiction is to a large extent a literature of witness to the historic upheavals of twentieth-century Korea. Often inspired by their own experiences, contemporary writers continue to show us how individual Koreans have been traumatized by wartime violence – whether the uprooting of whole families from the ancestral home, life on the road […] (Amazon link) | |
Seoul Searching: Culture and Identity in Contemporary Korean Cinema Publisher description: Korean cinema as industry, art form, and cultural product. Seoul Searching is a collection of fourteen provocative essays about contemporary South Korean cinema, the most productive and dynamic cinema in Asia. Examining the three dominant genres that have led Korean film to international acclaim—melodramas, big-budget action blockbusters, and youth films—the contributors look at Korean […] (Amazon link) | |
Land of Exile: Contemporary Korean Fiction (expanded edition) An English language anthology of post-1945 Korean short fiction, this work looks at the history, society, and culture of contemporary South Korea, reflecting the poignant motif of exile in Korea’s experience of modernity. LKL adds: the collection contains the following stories: Ch’ae Man-Sik: The Wife and Children (1948) Kim Dong-ni: The Post Horse Curse (1948) […] (Amazon link) | |
Modern Korean Fiction: An Anthology To represent the past century of Korean fiction, this definitive collection extends beyond familiar writers, challenges cultural norms, and crosses political borders. By including stories from neglected female, North Korean, and wolbuk writers (those who migrated to the North after 1945 and whose works were widely banned in South Korea) and by bringing politically engaged […] (Amazon link) | |
Daughters of the Bear: An Anthology of Korean Women’s Stories Daughters of the Bear is an anthology of non-fiction by 53 Korean women such as a shopkeeper in Itaewon, a doctor in Apkujong, a musician in Myong-Dong, a housewife in Chamshil, and a student at Ewha Womans University. Shiver with a merchant as she recollects escaping with her sisters and mother across the 38th Parallel […] (Amazon link) | |
A History of Korean Literature This comprehensive narrative history of Korean literature provides essential information for scholars and students as well as others. Combining history and criticism, the study reflects the latest scholarship and includes an account of the development of all genres. In 25 chapters, it covers twentieth-century poetry, fiction by women, and the literature of North Korea. It […] (Amazon link) | |
Surfacing Sadness: A Centennial of Korean-American Literature 1903-2003 This book is published to commemorate the centennial of the first landing of Korean immigrants in America in 1903. An anthology of poems, essays and short stories by thirty-seven Korean-American writers, Surfacing Sadness is the first serious effort to bring together the Korean-American literary experiences to join mainstream American literature. The book primarily contains translations […] (Amazon link) | |
Korean Short Stories: A Collection from North Korea A collection of short stories from North Korea, originally published in Pyongyang in 1986: History of Iron (1967) – Pyon Hui Gun Happiness (1963) – Sok Yun Gi Ogi (1961) – Chon Se Bong Fellow Travellers (1960) – Kim Byong Hun Everyone in Position! (1974) – Om Dan Ung Unfinished Sculpture (post 1980) – Ko […] (Amazon link) | |
Imagining America: Stories from the Promised Land Only listed on this site because it contains a short story by Kim Yong-ik entitled They Won’t Crack it Open, highly rated by Charles over at KTLit.com. Amazon has the following blurb about the collection: The acclaimed multicultural fiction anthology, updated to include recent writers. Thirty-seven short stories from 1900 to the present, written by […] (Amazon link) | |
The Voice of the Governor General and Other Stories of Modern Korea From the children of a dwarf whose house is torn down by the government to a young man selling his blood for money, the first-person narrators of the stories collected in The Voice of the Governor-General and Other Stories of Modern Korea take us into the heart of turbulent twentieth-century Korean history. This history includes […] (Amazon link) | |
Unspoken Voices: Selected Short Stories by Korean Women Writers The stories in this collection are written by twelve Korean women writers whose experience, insight, and writing skill make them truly representative of Korean fiction at its best. “The Rooster” is a comical revelation of an old man who accepts the truth that Man and Nature revolve around the same immutable natural law. In “The […] (Amazon link) | |
A Ready-Made Life: Early Masters of Modern Korean Fiction A Ready Made Life is the first volume of early modern Korean fiction to appear in English in the U.S. Written between 1921 and 1943, the sixteen stories are an excellent introduction to the riches of modern Korean fiction. They reveal a variety of settings, voices, styles, and thematic concerns, and the best of them, […] (Amazon link) | |
The Golden Phoenix A collection of seven short stories providing a picture of Korean family life in the 1940s to the 1990s. Their themes include family and community ties, respect for tradition, survival in the face of repeated national disasters, and wrenching social upheaval. The collection contains the following stories: Ch’oe Yun: The Flower with Thirteen Fragrances Kim […] (Amazon link) | |
The Rainy Spell and Other Korean Stories This anthology of short stories reflects the writers’ shared core experience of Korea’s trajectory from an inward-looking feudal state, through Japanese colony and battle-ground for the Korean War, to a modernizing society. Three stories have been added to the original edition. Ch’ae Man-Sik: My Idiot Uncle Ch’oe In-hun: My Idol’s Abode Ch’oe Yun: His Father’s […] (Amazon link) | |
Wayfarer: New Fiction by Korean Women The eight writers in Wayfarer are among Korea’s best known authors and bring an astonishing breadth of experience and style to the fiction collected here. They explore love and independence, break the bounds of family, are punished and resurgent. A powerful collection that strikes at the heart of what it means to be modern, to […] (Amazon link) | |
The Star and Other Korean Short Stories Eight stories by leading contemporary writers of Korea providing deeply moving insights into the human condition. They reflect a common concern with the social realities of the 1980s, with sadness and triumph emerging as unifying themes. The source of this humanity, as these stories strongly reveal, lies in powerful family bonds and a deep nostalgia […] (Amazon link) | |
The Snowy Road and Other Stories The Korean War and its aftermath serve as the backdrop for the six selections showcased in this collection offering the reader a rarely-glimpsed view of Korean life. Each of the authors represented here has been the recipient of the prestigious Korean People’s Literary Award . Their work focuses on ordinary Korean people and the impact […] (Amazon link) | |
Words of Farewell: Stories by Three Korean Women Writers The universal topics of life, death, love, hate, sex, loss of innocence, and other themes, are explored in fiction by 3 Korean writers. LKL adds: the collection contains the following stories: Kang Sŏk-gyŏng: A Room in the Woods (1985) Kang Sŏk-gyŏng: Days and Dreams (1983) Kim Chi-wŏn: A Certain Beginning Kim Chi-wŏn: Lullaby Oh Jung-Hee: […] (Amazon link) | |
The Green Prodigals: Contemporary Stories and Poems from Korea No contents list available, though according to the LTI Korea database the volume contains at least one story by Kim Dong-ni According to WorldCat there are copies in Oxford and Sheffield university libraries. (Amazon link) | |
Postwar Korean Short Stories: An Anthology Originally published by Seoul National University Press in 1974 Includes the following stories Kim Dong-ni: Father and son Oh Sang-won: A respite Chang Yong-hak: Poems of John the Baptist Son Chang-sop: Walking in the snow Sŏnu Hŭi: One way Sŏ Ki-wŏn: The uncharted map Pak Yong-jun: The last parting Hwang Sun-won: Time for You and […] (Amazon link) | |
Home-Coming and Other Korean Short Stories Contains the following stories: Hong Song-won: A boy in search of rest tr Sol Sun-bong Kim Seung-ok: Good bargain tr Yi Yong-gol, Sister Janice Hilburn Kim Seung-ok: Operation tr Yi Yong-gol, Sister Janice Hilburn Kim Seung-ok: Record of a journey to Mujin tr Kevin O’Rourke Kim Seung-ok: Seoul, 1964, Winter tr Marshall R. Pihl Seo […] (Amazon link) | |
A Respite and other Korean short stories Contains the following stories: Chang Yong-hak: Poems of John the Baptist Chŏn Kwang-yong : Driver’s assistant Chŏn Kwang-yong : Kapitan Ri Kim Song-han: Badby Nam Jung-hyun: Chaos Oh Sang-won: A respite Son Chang-sop: Walking in the snow Yi Ho-ch’ŏl: The sultriness of a cold evening Yi Ho-ch’ŏl: Torn flesh (Amazon link) | |
Early spring, mid-summer and other Korean short stories Contains the following stories Han Sung-won: Cave Jeon Sang-guk: Wings that will carry us both Kim Won-il: Spirit of the darkness / Soul of Darkness Mun Sun-tae: Sound of the gong Pak Si-jong: Ten minutes to seven Yi Mun-yol: Early spring, mid-summer Yu Chae-yong: Relationship Yu Hyon-jong: D.M.Z. (Amazon link) | |
One Way and Other Korean Short Stories Contains the stories: Ch’oe In-hun: Christmas Carol Ch’oe In-hun: The end of the highway / End of the Road Sŏnu Hŭi: One way Sŏnu Hŭi: Spark of life Sŏnu Hŭi: The colonel and his friends Sŏnu Hŭi: The mirror Sŏnu Hŭi: The story of a peculiar pain Sŏnu Hŭi: The terrorist Sŏnu Hŭi: Thoughts of […] (Amazon link) | |
The unenlightened and other Korean short stories Contains the following short stories An Su-gil: The green chrysanthemum tr Chong In-sop Ch’ae Man-Sik: My Innocent Uncle / My Idiot Uncle tr Yi Kyong-sik Hyeon Jin-geon: The death of my grandmother tr Adrian Buzo Kim Yi-sok: Tombstone without an inscription tr Mun Sang-duk Kim Yu-jeong: The Visitor tr Suh Ji-moon Kye Yong-muk: Adada the […] (Amazon link) | |
Hospital Room 205 and Other Korean Short Stories Contains the following stories: Choe Cheong-hui: Hospital room 205 tr Edward D Rockstein Choe Cheong-hui: When the cricket chirrs tr Kim Chong-un Hahn Moo-Sook: Shadow tr Richard Rutt Hahn Moo-Sook: The Rock tr Chung Chong-hwa Han Malsook: Mr. Kim, the bohemian minstrel tr Richard Rutt Im Og-in: The new life tr Sol Sun-bong Kang Kyŏng-ae: […] (Amazon link) | |
The Road to Sampo and Other Korean Short Stories Contains the following stories: Hwang Sok-yong: The Road to Sampo Lee Byeng-ju: The wind and landscape of Yenang Ch’oe In-ho: Another Man’s Room Cho Se-hui: The Spiny Fish entering my net Cho Se-hui: On the footbridge Cho Hae-il: Iron masks Shin Sang-ung: Pyeon’s Death Yun Hŭng-gil: Group beating Kim Joo-young: The moon-welcoming flower (Amazon link) | |
Two travelers and other Korean short stories Contains the following stories: Ch’oe Illam: The color of mugwort Ha Keun-chan: The spring song Ha Keun-chan: The Suffering of Two Generations / Ill-fated father and son Ha Keun-chan: The white paper beard Kwon Tae-ung: The hunchback of Seoul O Yu-gwon: Two travelers Pak Yŏng-suk: Eroica Symphony Sŏ Ki-wŏn: Half-Holiday Song Pyong-su: Debris (Amazon link) | |
The Drizzle and Other Korean Short Stories Hwang Sun-won’s stories depict various emotional experiences of brief moments of human life in an outstandingly elegant style. The elegance, however, is not the characterizing quality of his style alone. We find it in his description of scenes and momentary feelings of characters as well as in his presentation of themes that range from the […] (Amazon link) | |
The Cruel City and Other Korean Short Stories Contains the stories: Choe Cheong-hui: Chomnye tr Genell Y Poitras Choe Cheong-hui: Round and Round the Pagoda tr Genell Y Poitras Choe Cheong-hui: The Ritual at the Well tr Genell Y Poitras Hwang Sun-won: The Moon and the Crab’s Legs tr Edward W Poitras Pak Yong-jun: The Touch of Life tr Choe Yong Yi Ch’ŏng-jun: […] (Amazon link) | |
Loess Valley and Other Korean Short Stories Contains the following stories Kim Dong-ni: Loess Valley Kim Dong-ni: The Shaman Painting / Picture of a Shaman Sorceress Kim Dong-ni: The Rock Kim Dong-ni: Two Reservists Kim Dong-ni: Tŭngsin-bul Kim Dong-ni: Cry of the magpie Oh Young-Soo: Seaside Village Oh Young-Soo: Wild Grapes Oh Young-Soo: Uncle Soldier Oh Young-Soo: Adolescence Oh Young-Soo: Nami and […] (Amazon link) | |
Ten Korean Short Stories Ten Korean Short Stories samples two generations of Korean short stories, bringing to life the first faltering steps of an ancient land entering the modern age, evoking in truly memorable fashion the spirit that stir the hearts of her people. Here is the pain and anguish of people oppressed by the conqueror, the tragedy of […] (Amazon link) | |
A Washed-out Dream Contains exactly the same stories and translations as Ten Korean Short Stories, with the addition of an eleventh, Ha Keun-chan’s The White Paper Beard. However, you may find the other publication easier to track down. The White Paper Beard is available in the collection Two Travellers – though that’s pretty hard to track down too. […] (Amazon link) | |
Meetings and Farewells: Modern Korean Stories Contains the following stories: Cho Sŏn-jak : The Wall Hwang Sun-won: Retreat Kim Dong-in: The Post Horse Kim Dong-ni: The Rock Kim Seung-ok: A Cup of Coffee Kim Seung-ok: Seoul, 1964, Winter Kim Yu-jeong: The Camellias Oh Young-Soo: Echoes Yi Ho-ch’ŏl: Wearing Thin Yi Hyo-seok: When the Buckwheat Blooms Yi Mun-gu: The Tale of Kim […] (Amazon link) | |
Modern Korean Short Stories Contains the following stories Ch’oe In-hun: Laughter (1966) tr Lee Sang-ok Hahn Moo-Sook: The Angel tr Chung Chong-wha Hwang Sok-yong: The Road to Sampo (1973) tr Kim Uchang Hyeon Jin-geon: The Fire tr Kathryn Kisray Kang Shin-jae: The Young Zelkova Tree (1960) tr Shin Hyun-song Kim Dong-in: Red Mountain: A Doctor’s Memoir / The Red […] (Amazon link) | |
Modern Far Eastern Stories Publisher description: This anthology of carefully-selected modern stories offers the reader a glimpse into Far Eastern literature that has hitherto been largely unexplored. These stories by contemporary writers, which have been translated by specialists who mostly are or were faculty members of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, reveal the social […] (Amazon link) | |
Korean Short Stories Contains the following stories: Bare Hills (Kim Dong-in) Adada, the Idiot (Kye Yong-Muk) At the Time When the Buckwheat Blooms (Yi Hyo-Seok) The Third Human Type (An Su-gil) The Echo (O Yong-Su) Silent Parallel (Choi Bum-So) Illusion (Park Kyung-ni) Picture of a Sorceress (Kim Dong-ni) (Amazon link) | |
Flowers of Fire: Twentieth-century Korean Stories Contains the following stories: Hyeon Jin-geon: The Fire Kim Dong-in: Potatoes / Sweet Potato Yi Hyo-seok: When the Buckwheat Blooms Yi Sang: Wings Kim Dong-ni: The Shaman Painting Yŏm Sang-sŏp: The last moment. Hwang Sun-won: Cranes Son Chang-sop: Rainy Days An Su-gil: A third kind of man. Ch’oe So-hae: Point. Sŏnu Hŭi: Flowers of fire. […] (Amazon link) | |
Virtuous Women – Three Classic Korean Novels Contains the following classics: A nine cloud dream by Kim Man-jung The true history of Queen Inhyŏn The song of a faithful wife, Ch’un-hyang (Amazon link) | |
Collected Short Stories from Korea According to Charles Montgomery, this is the second compilation of Korean translated fiction. The collection includes the following stories An Su-gil: Annals of a Ranch Choe Cheong-hui: Chomnye Choi Tae-ung: Blood Phlegm Chu Yo-seop: Mama and the Boarder Chun Young-Taik: The Cow Chun Pi-Sook: Home-coming Hahn Moo-Sook: Halo around the Moon Kim Shung-Han: Coming Home […] (Amazon link) | |
Modern Short Stories from Korea “Ten of its 20 stories focus on “love and marriage,” and the rest are characterized as “social stories.” Most demonstrate a kind of depth and lack of didacticism that would soon almost vanish from translated Korean fiction. For that reason alone, this book is an interesting one for fans of Korean literature, since the truly […] (Amazon link) |
We think the above list is pretty comprehensive as at October 2020. Help keep this resource complete and up-to-date by letting us know of Korean fiction titles in English translation that aren’t listed above.