Kim Won-il looks at 80 years of Korean modern history, presenting us with the less glamorous side of the story in a novel that spans three generations of a Milyang-based family who are swept along in the political and economic tides of the colonial period and Korea’s subsequent reconstruction. [Read More]
Books and literature (page 7)
March Korean Literature Night: The Road to Sampo
This March we will read the novel ‘The Road to Sampo’ by Hwang Sok-yong. This month will also feature a special discussion Zoom event, with all participants able to turn on the camera, speak, and discuss the work during the talk. Prof. Jieun Kiaer (Associate Professor of Korean Language and Linguistics, University of Oxford) will … [Read More]
Non-fiction titles expected in 2022: LKL’s picks
In previous years this post has been, to a greater or lesser extent, a list of every non-fiction title I could find that was going to be hitting the bookshops in the coming year. As the LKL Korea Book Database has grown in size, including its stock of future publications, there are now far too … [Read More]
Upcoming literature and fiction titles for 2022
Last year was an amazing one for Korean literature in translation, with plenty of lively titles published. 2022 looks for the moment like it’s going to be a little quieter, but new publications sometimes pop out of nowhere, so this list of anticipated books for this year is almost bound to be proved incomplete. There … [Read More]
Children’s books – the latest translation trend?
In this month’s edition of World Literature Today, Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp draws attention to a number of recent publications of translated children’s books coming from Korea. She speculates: The interest in the Korean children’s market may have been spurred by innovative illustrator, animator, and artist Baek Heena being named the 2020 laureate of the Astrid … [Read More]
The Cabinet: Un-Su Kim in conversation with Phillip Kim
The KCC’s monthly literature discussions restart in February with Un-su Kim’s debut novel The Cabinet. It has quite a different flavour from his Plotters, which was the first to make it into English, but shares its inventiveness and pace. The Cabinet Discussion: Wednesday 23 February 2022, 12 noon Apply by 4 February Full details – … [Read More]
A review of the Korean cultural year 2021
Each year when I come to write this review, I wonder whether Korean culture in the West has reached its high water mark. And every year so far I’ve come to the same conclusion. Korean music and film, TV and food continue to win admirers, and we can expect to see it continue to thrive … [Read More]
A look back at our 2021 reading diary
Looking back at this year, it’s been one of the best for new translations of Korean literature that I can remember. There have been at least ten new fiction titles, and unusually for me I managed to get through all the titles I was intending to. All of them are recommendable in their different ways. … [Read More]
Review: Kim Bo-young – On the Origin of Species and other stories
After the mild disappointment that was the audiobook of Kim Bo-young’s I’m Waiting for You (let down by the somewhat unwieldy story The Prophet of Corruption) it was with a slight sense of wariness that I embarked upon the Kaya collection of her short stories On the Origin of Species. I was also cautious because … [Read More]
Review: Hwang Sok-yong – The Prisoner
How to review the autobiography of one of Korean’s leading novelists, who has won accclaim both sides of the border; who has spent five years in prison as well as being a person of interest to the authorities for much of his professional career? The memoir makes for fascinating reading as literary history: most of … [Read More]
Review: Kim Bo-young – I’m Waiting for You, and other stories
Genuine question: what was the first work of translated Korean fiction to be released as an audiobook? I don’t know the answer to that one. Browsing the Audible catalogue is not easy, but I suspect Penguin wins the prize. Two popular titles published by Penguin – Kim Ji-young, born 1982 and The Hen who dreamed … [Read More]
Love in the Big City: Sang Young Park in conversation with Anton Hur
November’s literature discussion again features a book which is very hot off the press: Love in the Big City Wednesday 24th November 12:00noon-1:30pm via Zoom The author Sang Young Park and the moderator Anton Hur will join us for a live virtual talk about the novel Love in the Big City. Following the talk, Sang … [Read More]
Book review: Kwon Yeo-sun – Lemon
Someone, somewhere, must have done a study of multi-person narratives in Korean fiction – novels which tell the same story (or different episodes involving the same characters) from two or more different perspectives. Two of the best-loved Korean novels in translation use the technique: Please Look After Mother and The Vegetarian. And this year, we’ve … [Read More]
Hysteria: Kim Yideum in conversation with Steven J. Fowler
September’s literature discussion at the KCC looks at Kim Yideum’s award-winning poetry collection: Hysteria By Kim Yideum, translated by Jake Levine, Soeun Seo, Hedgie Choi Wednesday 29 September 12:00PM-1:30PM (UK time) via Zoom Apply to [email protected] with your name and contact details by 15th September 2021 The event is free of charge. The first thirty … [Read More]
Yoo Youngkuk: “painter of mountains” and “magician of colours”
Today, the publishers of a recent monograph on the Korean artist Yoo Youngkuk got in touch to ask me to add the title to the LKL Korea Book Database – something I was very happy to do. There’s far too little material available in English on modern Korean art so I’m always delighted when I … [Read More]
Umma’s Table: Yeon-sik Hong in conversation with Paul Gravett
For the KCC’s August literature event, cartoonist Yeon-sik Hong and the Comics curator Paul Gravett will join for a live virtual talk about Umma’s table. Following the talk, Yeon-sik Hong will respond to questions from the audience. Umma’s Table by Yeon-sik Hong, translated by Janet Hong Yeon-sik Hong in conversation with Comics curator Paul Gravett … [Read More]