Jeong You-jeong: The Good Son Translated by Kim Chi-young Little, Brown Book Group, 2018, 322pp Originally published as 종의 기원, Eunhaengnamu, 2016 A Good Son is one of the books being hailed as the new Scandi Noir, while Amazon is billing it as “The bestselling Korean thriller of the year” – though in a Korean genre that … [Read More]
Books and literature (page 15)
June Literature Night: A conversation with Kim Aeran
June’s literature night is a special event: a discussion with Kim Aeran about the texts set for the recent essay contest, and the announcement of the winner. A discussion with author Kim Aeran Wednesday 27 June, 18:00-20:45 Venue: Korean Cultural Centre UK Entrance Free – Booking Essential. Apply to [email protected] or call 020 7004 2600 … [Read More]
Book review: Shin Kyung-sook – The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness
When reading Ahn Jung-hyo’s White Badge, I found myself wondering why, despite what I thought was my general antipathy to novels with listless central characters who can’t seem to find their way in life, I found myself connecting with Han Kiju in the opening chapters. I wondered, somewhat guiltily, if there was some subconscious sexism … [Read More]
Litro Summer Literary & Arts Festival ’18
The Litro Summer Literary Festival has a few things of Korean interest, not least of which is the very welcome presence of Krys Lee, who apart from hosting a masterclass on Korean poetry and participating in a panel session on female writers will also be introducing Im Sang-soo’s adaptation of Hwang Sok-yong’s The Old Garden … [Read More]
May Literature Night: Hwang Sok-yong’s The Old Garden
Continuing the KCC’s season of screen adaptations of Korean novels. May Literature Night: Hwang Sok-yong’s The Old Garden 30 May 2018, 19.00-21.00 Venue: Korean Cultural Centre UK Entrance Free – Booking Essential. Apply to [email protected] or call 020 7004 2600 with your name and contact details by Thursday 10th May. The booking system utilises a … [Read More]
Book review: Lee Yil – Dynamics of Expansion and Reduction
How often do you read the learned essay that accompanies a new art exhibition and find yourself not understanding a word of it? For me, more often than I would like. I am never sure how to tell whether the essay is unclear because the writer is being deliberately obscure (to cover up the fact … [Read More]
Book Review: Ahn Jung-hyo – White Badge
Ahn Jung-hyo: White Badge Soho Press, NY, 1989, 337pp Originally published as 하얀전쟁, 1983 Translated by the author If I saw Jeong Ji-young’s White Badge (1992) when it screened in London eight years ago, I do not remember it. I cannot imagine having a similar lapse of memory concerning Ahn Jung-hyo’s Vietnam war novel on … [Read More]
Wookwan’s Korean Temple Food – Book Talk and Tasting Event
What a shame this clashes with the opening night of 4482 – Butterfly Effect at the Bargehouse. Nevertheless, this temple food event is sure to be extremely popular, so make sure you get your application in. Yes, note the unusual registration process, which suggests that the attendee list may be prioritised in the event of … [Read More]
27 years of translation: Brother Anthony’s poetry talks in London
Brother Anthony’s brief pre-Easter trip to the UK included four talks – in St Andrews, London and Oxford – on themes of poetry translation. Of the two London appearances, one was a detailed hands-on workshop wrestling with a poem by Kim Seung-hee; and the other a wide-ranging talk encompassing the history of the translation of … [Read More]
April Literature Night: Silver Stallion with Ahn Jung-hyo
Ahn Jung-hyo is in town not just to talk about his novel Silver Stallion but also his Vietnam War novel White Badge, which will be screened at the KCC later in the week. We reviewed Silver Stallion ten years ago but that won’t stop us reading it again. Literature Night: Ahn Jung-hyo’s Silver Stallion 25 … [Read More]
Haemin Sunim shortlisted for British Book Award
The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim (tr. Chi-Young Kim) has been shortlisted for The British Book Awards in Non-Fiction: Lifestyle category. The full shortlist in the category is as follows: 5 Ingredients by Jamie Oliver (Michael Jospeh) The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down: How … [Read More]
Book review: Yi Kwang-su — The Soil
Yi Kwang-su’s The Soil, at over 500 pages long, is not a book that immediately entices you to read it. But with a screening of Kim Ki-young’s adaptation of the novel coming up shortly at the KCC, the incentive was there to pick it up out of the reading pile where it had languished since … [Read More]
Talk on comics from North and South Korea with Paul Gravett
As part of Nick Bonner’s exhibition of everyday graphic design from North Korea, an interesting talk on North and South Korean Manhwa: Secrets of North and South Korean Comics A talk by leading expert Paul Gravett 19 Apr 2018, 7:00pm | Buy tickets House of Illustration | 2 Granary Square | King’s Cross | London … [Read More]
Lee Yil: seminar and book launch of selected writings on Contemporary Korean Art
Artist Bada Song and critic / lecturer Paul O’Kane spent a large part of last year helping to translate and edit an important new collection of mid-to-late 20th century writings of renowned Korean art critic Lee Yil (1932-1997), “the main observer of “Dansaekhwa”, or Korean monochrome”. That work has now come to fruition, with the … [Read More]
Guardian suggests Korean thrillers are the new Scandi Noir
It was not long ago that people were lamenting the absence of Korean genre fiction – such as crime and mystery stories – in translation. Well, apparently, things are changing. An article in Saturday’s Guardian talks about a “wave of interest in Korean thrillers” – highlighting the six-figure sum which bought Doubleday the right to … [Read More]
Brother Anthony’s poetry talks in St Andrews and London
Brother Anthony of Taizé, the noted – and prolific – translator of Korean literature and poetry, is coming to the UK in March and will be appearing at the StAnza International Poetry Festival in St Andrews on 10 March and giving two talks in London on 13 and 15 March. Details below: Past & Present … [Read More]