Join us with Jihyun Park and Lindsey Miller who have joined forces for this fascinating evening of both gripping and poignant discussion about their own experiences in North Korea and talking about their books The Hard Road Out: One Womans Escape from North Korea and North Korea: Like Nowhere Else. North Korea is an open-air prison from which … [Read More]
Books and literature (page 3)
May Literature Night special: book talk with Cheon Myeong-kwan
Cheon Myeong-kwan, author of Whale, is a Korean novelist, screenwriter and director whose work has been translated into eight languages. Set in a remote Korean village, Whale follows three mythical characters with interlinked lives: Geumbok, who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who … [Read More]
Overcoming Barriers: Korea in Translation
Brother Anthony (who has been publishing translations of Korean poetry and fiction since 1990) will begin by talking about some of the books by which Korea and its region first became known in centuries past, books that were translated from and into a variety of languages. He will then review the ways in which Korean … [Read More]
Have purple raccoons ever floated in YOUR dreams?
I’ve started, very belatedly, to resume my Korean language studies, which originally began, and paused, around 15 years ago at the Korean Cultural Centre in London. I was in their first intake for the beginners’ language class, and I met people there that I’ve stayed in touch with ever since. Back in 2008 the KCC’s … [Read More]
Yun Ko-eun on the humour to be found in nightmarish scenarios
The moderator was late, misdirected by a faulty map app. The interpreter’s pen ran out of ink, as did a replacement pen supplied by a member of the audience. A warning message popped up on screen warning those present that the KCC’s laptop battery was getting low. The PA system didn’t seem to be working. … [Read More]
Han Kang: Greek Lessons launch event
Han Kang, author of The Vegetarian, launches a powerful new novel about the saving grace of language and human connection, in conversation with Octavia Bright. Greek Lessons tells the story of two ordinary people brought together at a moment of private anguish – the fading light of a man losing his vision meeting the silence of a … [Read More]
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]
Korean Literature Night: Yun Ko-Eun in conversation with Sharlene Teo
Yona has been stuck behind a desk for years working as a programming coordinator for Jungle, a travel company specialising in package holidays to destinations ravaged by disaster. When a senior colleague touches her inappropriately she tries to complain, and in an attempt to bury her allegations, the company make her an attractive proposition: a … [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]
A look back at our 2022 reading diary
It was a busy year outside of my Korean interests, with the result that I didn’t read as much as I would like. And of the titles that I did read, I haven’t had a chance yet formally to write up my thoughts – though there are several half-written reviews which may eventually see the … [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]