Kim Joo-young: Stingray Dalkey Archive 2013, 124pp Translated by Inrae You Vinciguerra and Louis Vinciguerra. Originally published as 홍어, Munidang, Seoul, 1998 Stingray has the accolade of being allocated #1 in Dalkey Archive‘s set of 10 Korean novels translated into English. It happens to be the third I’ve picked up. The first two were real … [Read More]
Category: Translated Korean literature (page 15)
Bringing Kim Hoon’s Hwajang to the big screen: How to act a swollen prostate?
Im Kwon-taek set himself quite a challenge when he decided to make a movie of Kim Hoon’s Hwajang. It is a dense, concentrated and rich piece of writing – I hesitate to say “short story”, because really there’s not much narrative flow. Instead, there’s well-balanced contrast; there’s inner thoughts and emotions; there are the human … [Read More]
Come celebrate the launch of the next 5 Dalkey K-Lit titles
After last year’s release of ten titles, Dalkey Archive Press has a follow-up release of five new translations. If they all measure up to No One Writes Back from their first set, which was runaway winner of LKL’s Book of the Year 2013, there is treasure in store. So come and help celebrate, and encourage … [Read More]
LKL’s latest must-see film of the LKFF 2014: The Road Called Life
It’s taking a while to go through the LKFF 2014 programme to prioritise those films which I simply *have* to go to see. So thanks to Frances Yoo from Studio Meditation with a Pencil for alerting me to the title that instantly has gone from “when I get round to it, I’ll look to see … [Read More]
SOAS Book Launch event: Assorted Chatter about Mr.Y’s Literature
Notice of a book launch event as part of SOAS’s ongoing programme of Friday evening seminars: Assorted Chatter about Mr.Y’s Literature Byoung Yoong KANG (Writer & Assistant Professor, Department of Asian and African Studies, University of Ljubljana) 3 October 2014, 5:15 – 7:00 PM Venue: Brunei Gallery | B102 Type of Event: Book Launch Abstract … [Read More]
The London Korean Novel Club
Many LKL followers will have already heard of the London Korean Novel Club – not to be confused with the monthly Korean Literature Night meetups at the KCC. The London Korean Novel Club was born in part because the KCC-organised literature nights seemed to get booked up so quickly: there’s obviously a market for informal … [Read More]
An evening with Bae Suah at SOAS
Another highly recommended event linked to the London Book Fair 2014 cultural programme coordinated by the British Council: Border States and Mother Tongues: an evening with Bae Suah Wednesday 11 June 2014, 17.15-20.00 Room B104 (Brunei Gallery Building, 1st floor), SOAS, University of London, London WC1H 0XG. Bae Suah, currently in residence at Writers’ Centre … [Read More]
Gong Ji-young on tuna sandwiches, Jane Eyre and manual labour
Gong Ji-young was passing through London on her way to the Hay Literary Festival. Saturday would involve dinner with Stephen Fry as president of the Festival, together with other authors. Sunday morning, hopefully without a hangover, she would be sharing the stage with British author Ned Beauman in a conversation with Granta online poetry editor … [Read More]
Gong Ji-young in conversation with Grace Koh
So you thought you were done with the London Book Fair? Think again. As part of the ongoing programme which the British Council reminded us about at the Fair, it’s about more than just the three days in April. For starters, LKL hasn’t finished writing it all up yet… But more importantly Gong Ji-young’s in … [Read More]
The worrisome wife and the lovechild you never knew – some quotes from London Book Fair
You can rely on a professional writer to come up with some well-honed soundbites, and the 10 authors who came to the London Book Fair were no exception. Even when delivered through an interpreter, they retained their impact. You might have got the impression that some of them were well-rehearsed. But a quote is a … [Read More]
LBF sketch: the snippets which didn’t quite make it…
Sometimes a discussion session is really interesting and you come out of it thinking you’ve get some really good material; and then when you check your notes later there’s just not enough to do a coherent write-up – or the notes don’t make a lot of sense. Or one session might cover the same ground … [Read More]
English PEN video: Hwang Sunmi in conversation with Maya Jaggi
Here is English PEN’s video of Hwang Sun-mi in conversation with Maya Jaggi on the second day of the London Book Fair. The Hen who Dreamed she could Fly is obviously one of the things discussed. Links: English PEN YouTube channel [Read More]
English PEN video: Kim Young-ha in conversation with Krys Lee
Here is English PEN’s video of Kim Young-ha in conversation with Krys Lee on the first day of the London Book Fair: Links: English PEN YouTube channel [Read More]
LBF sketch: Kim In-suk and Kim Young-ha on Migrant Literature and the motivations for writing
A write-up of a fascinating panel session at the London Book Fair with the title Writing Home: Migrant Literature. The write-up below focuses on the part of the session which focused on the work of Kim In-suk. The Long Road is Kim In-suk’s first book, and is one of the only Korean language book on … [Read More]
LBF sketch: Kim Young-ha at the London Book Fair: always adapting to a new environment
Kim Young-ha attended three London events during the this year’s London Book Fair: a conversation with writer Krys Lee on 8 April, a panel session with Kim In-suk and others on 9 April entitled Writing Home: Migrant Literature, and a discussion with Daniel Hahn at the London Review Bookshop on 11 April. The below is a digest of those sessions. Introduction, themes, … [Read More]
LBF sketch: Shin Kyung-sook on what modernity makes us forget
Shin Kyung-sook attended three London events during the this year’s London Book Fair: a conversation with Arifa Akbar on 8 April, a panel session with Han Kang on Families, Relationships and Society on 9 April, and a panel entitled Separations with Krys Lee and Quaisra Shahraz at Asia House on 10 April. The below is a digest … [Read More]