There’s a great article in support of Bae Suah’s Nowhere to be Found (tr Sora Kim-Russell) on Three Percent, by Tony of Tony’s Reading List fame. A year ago he did a review of Nowhere to be Found along with Highway with Green Apples. And in his Three Percent article he passes on this bit of … [Read More]
Category: General book news (page 7)
Hong Gildong coming soon to Penguin Classics
I wonder why it’s taken so long. But coming soon, in a new translation by Minsoo Kang, is The Story of Hong Gildong, “arguably the single most important work of classic Korean fiction,” according to the publishers, Penguin Classics. A release date of 7 July 2016 is mentioned, though Amazon UK is offering it on … [Read More]
Deborah Smith wins Literary Translation award.
Han Kang says she’s “amazing”. Deborah Levy says she’s “obviously a genius”. And now, congratulations to Deborah Smith for winning The Arts Foundation Literary Translation Award 2016. According to the TLS blog, the award comes with a £10,000 bursary which Deborah plans to use “to fund research into the Korean author Yi Chong-jun” (Your Paradise, … [Read More]
Event news: Korean ‘Comfort Women’ — Listen to Their Voices, Hear Their Cries.
A timely new book on the Comfort Woman issue is out about now from Palgrave McMillan. Its author, Dr Maki Kimura, will be giving a talk at SOAS on 12 February: Korean ‘Comfort Women’: Listen to Their Voices, Hear Their Cries presented by the SOAS Save Jeju Island Society 6:30pm, Friday 12th, 2016, SOAS main … [Read More]
Event news: launch of Han Kang’s Human Acts
Three separate opportunities to hear Han Kang talk about her newly-translated book, Human Acts – a Norwich appearance sandwiched in between two London ones. If you can’t wait to get hold of a copy of the book, Foyles (whose event is 13 Jan) claim they have “exclusive availability of Human Acts for a full month … [Read More]
Event news: APPG meeting and book introduction
Notice of an upcoming North Korea-related event: The All-Party Parliamentary Group will be hosting an open meeting on Monday 14th December. The event will serve two purposes. Firstly, to outline the Group’s recent business and its strategy for 2016. Secondly, to host Daniel Tudor (former Korea correspondent at the Economist) who will introduce his new … [Read More]
Brother Anthony awarded honorary MBE
Congratulations to Brother Anthony of Taizé for his honorary MBE, awarded by ambassador Charles Hay on 2 December at the ambassador’s residence in Seoul. The official citation reads as follows… Brother Seon Jae AN For services to the Royal Asiatic Society and to furthering the study of English Literature in Korea. …but equally we all … [Read More]
Book news: Han Kang’s Human Acts coming in January 2016
Han Kang is among the eight women writers whose books have been awarded an English PEN grant in the latest round. Han, acclaimed author of The Vegetarian, will publish her novel Human Acts in January 2016 with the backing of both a PEN Promotes and a PEN Translates grant. Deborah Smith once again translates, and … [Read More]
Sophie Bowman wins Korea Times translation award
Way back in the summer of 2008, when the KCCUK ran its first language class for beginners in Korean, one of the students on the inaugural course was Sophie Bowman. Unlike another student in the same class (me) Sophie has progressed somewhat since then. Many congratulations to her on winning the Korea Times Grand Prize … [Read More]
Book Launch: Cash or Smash by Bada Song (eeodo)
Some LKL followers may remember Bada Song’s performance-cum-exhibition at Mokspace earlier this year. The weekend has been documented in a book which will be launched on 31 October. The event will feature a screening of a video of the event earlier this year, plus drinks, discussion, reading and a planned intervention by a political performance … [Read More]
Yeonmi Park is Radio 4 book of the week
Yeonmi Park’s refugee memoir In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom is Radio 4’s book of the week this week, airing at 9:45am. If you missed this morning’s episode there’s a repeat at 12:30 tonight, or of course you can listen to it for the next 30 days on the Radio … [Read More]
Yeonmi Park’s DPRK refugee memoir out next week
Yeonmi Park’s defector memoir In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom comes out in a couple of days. It is trailed in this weekend’s Telegraph and her testimony has also been examined in The Diplomat. Italian and German editions will be coming out later this year. According to Aidan Foster Carter, … [Read More]
Book news: Our Korean Kitchen by Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo
Fashion designer Rejina Pyo has joined with her husband, chef and food writer Jordan Bourke, to produce Our Korean Kitchen, available from 3 September (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £25). Judging by the extract published today in The Guardian, the recipe book is user-friendly, full of welcoming photographs, and adapts traditional recipes to accommodate ingredients available in … [Read More]
Book news: Han Kang at the Edinburgh Book Festival
Hang Kang will be appearing with Mary Costello at the Edinburgh Book Festival. And you can vote for Han Kang’s The Vegetarian for the First Book Award here. The Quest for Another Life Mary Costello & Han Kang Sun 16 Aug 7:00pm – 8:00pm Baillie Gifford Corner Theatre £7.00, £5.00 Book here ‘Heartbreaking’ and ‘packed … [Read More]
Shin Kyung-sook seeks to withdraw short story
Wow – this all happened very quickly. On 17 June author Lee Eung-jun wrote an article in Huffington Post Korea (in Korean) accusing Shin Kyung-sook of plagiarism: Shin is “an author whose works are often accused of plagiarism” and that he decided to risk his career by publishing the article as he wanted the allegations … [Read More]
Hyeonseo Lee: The Girl with Seven Names and three book launches
Hyeonseo Lee’s memoir, The Girl with Seven Names, is published on 2 July. Three separate events on 1 July (Asia House), 2 July (European Association for Human Rights in North Korea) and 3 July (Guardian / Amnesty) will give you the chance to hear her story and get a signed copy. Details in date order … [Read More]