London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

Book launch: The Korean Book of Happiness

From the very first moment she set foot in South Korea, Barbara Zitwer, literary agent to some of the most celebrated, prize-winning Korean authors, fell head-over-heels in love, discovering there a renewed sense of happiness and energy. In this fascinating book, Zitwer shares all that she has learnt about this vibrant country, forged by the … [Read More]

February Literature Night: The Age of Doubt by Pak Kyongni

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, T’oji. Many of Pak’s stories reflect her own turbulent experiences during the period following the Korean war and the various Korean dictatorships throughout the twentieth century. Pak … [Read More]

Review: Cho Nam-joo – Saha

After the domestic success of Kim Ji-young (2016; English translation by Jamie Chang published in 2020), and of its encouraging sales overseas, it was natural that Cho Nam-joo’s next novel would attract interest. Accordingly, Saha had a slightly shorter journey from Korean into English: after an original publication date in 2019 its English translation came … [Read More]

Book review: Seo Su-jin – Korean Teachers

After what was a fairly downbeat reading experience for us last year, quite by chance we came across the first publication of translated Korean literature from Singapore’s Harriet Press, released without our noticing it in March 2022. Seo Sujin’s debut novel Korean Teachers won the Hankyoreh Literature Award in 2020, and it is encouraging that … [Read More]

Lee Hyemi shortlisted for Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation

Congratulations to poet Lee Hyemi, translator Soje and the pioneering Tilted Axis Press for being shortlisted for the 2022 Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation with the collection Unexpected Vanilla, published in 2020. Awarded every two years, the prize honours the best book of poetry by a living poet from Africa, Asia, Latin America … [Read More]

Unexpected Vanilla – poetry talks and events

About Unexpected Vanilla A sensual, surrealist collection by a young feminist poet, in an equally sensuous and sensitive queer translation. Lee explores a wide variety of relationships, attractions, and sensations. Her erotically charged, surrealist sensibility can be traced back to the paintings of Leonor Fini, a bisexual Argentinian artist whom she admires. Lee subverts the … [Read More]

Review: JM Lee — Broken Summer

A seemingly ideal partnership between a successful artist and a doting wife who is also his manager suddenly dissolves when the wife walks out without warning, leaving behind a surprise which the artist knows will shortly destroy his reputation and career. The artist had clearly been living a lie, with his wife plotting his destruction … [Read More]

A discussion with poet Hakjung Kim

In August we will have a special event as a part of our Korean Literature Night (KLN) with poet Hakjung Kim and this event will be presented at the KCCUK. Poet Hakjung Kim will share his thoughts about why writing as a minority voice in contemporary Korea matters. With the moderator Eugene Kim, Hakjung Kim … [Read More]

Tiger is Coming: Make, Break, Remix

Join us for an exclusive Q&A with author Fiona Bae in conversation with Robert Bound, Senior Correspondent at Monocle, to mark the launch of her new book Make, Break, Remix: The Rise of K-Style, a bold, stylish look at the global rise of Korean culture and style in the words and images of those shaping … [Read More]

Brief review: Concerning My Daughter

Kim Hye-jin’s Concerning My Daughter is set in a world of agency workers, where no-one has enough money, still less any job security; a world in which a university lecturer gets fired for being gay; a world in which a nursing home asks their staff to cut down on basic hygiene tasks and neglect their … [Read More]

May Literature Night: Winter in Sokcho

The Korean Literature Night is a monthly discussion group that explores various themes and topics relating to that month’s chosen book. For May we will read the novel Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin. Author Elisa Shua Dusapin and translator Aneesa Abbas Higgins will join us for a live virtual talk about the novel ‘Winter … [Read More]

Congratulations to Bora Chung, Anton Hur and Honford Star

Congratulations to author Bora Chung, translator Anton Hur and publisher Honford Star for Cursed Bunny’s inclusion in the International Booker Prize shortlist. Anton Hur had the distinction of having two of his translations longlisted, the other one being Sang Young Park’s Love in the Big City. It was also nice to see one title from … [Read More]