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]
Category: Event reports and reviews (page 24)
LBF sketch: Yi Mun-yol on fable and allegory in his work
Yi Mun-yol spoke at three London Book Fair events: on Korean Literature Past and Present at the British Library on 8 April; on Allegory and the Literary Imagination on 9 April; and in conversation with Claire Armitstead on 10 April. The below is a digest of those appearances. Grace Koh: Yi Mun-yol’s debut was Son … [Read More]
LBF sketch: Hwang Sok-yong and the burden of history
Like many of his fellow authors at the London Book Fair, Hwang Sok-yong was put to work in at least three events: first at the Free Word Centre on 7 April with author Adam Foulds; then on the first day of the Fair itself he appeared with Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie in a panel session … [Read More]
LBF sketch: Hwang Sun-mi on following your dreams
LKL reports from two events involving Hwang Sun-mi at the London Book Fair in Earls Court. So you think Hwang Sun-mi’s bestselling book The hen who dreamed she could fly is all about maternal sacrifice? Think again. It could be that you’ve been influenced by the film adaptation Leafie, a hen into the wild. During … [Read More]
In pictures: Jeung Hyun — Jardins Croisés, at Mokspace
Jeung Hyun’s current exhibition at Mokspace lives up to expectations. Her last solo show at Mokspace was back in the summer of 2012, when she presented woodblock prints of gingkos, peonies, persimmons, jasmine and apples. This time, while retaining some beautifully autumnal gingkos in luminous golds she has introduced several works involving the fragile poppy. … [Read More]
Podcast: Kim Hyesoon reads at the Poetry Library
For those who decided to go to see Shin Kyung-sook and Krys Lee at Asia House rather than Kim Hyesoon at the Poetry Library, MPT Magazine has kindly recorded the latter event and put it on Soundcloud. “They’re poems that really change your life … completely visceral,” says the moderator, among other things. The event … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Chun Kwang-young’s Mulberry Mindscapes at Bernard Jacobson Gallery
Somehow, the recent acquisition at the V&A of Chun Kwang-young’s Aggregation10-SE032RED, placed as it is in a glass display case, lacks the impact of the new works by the distinguished artist currently on at Bernard Jacobson Gallery in Cork Street. Because of the glass, you can’t get right up close; and because of the compactness … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Park Seungmo — Absence, at HADA Contemporary
Maybe at LKL we’ve been over-focussing on Korean Literature this past week, so this weekend I paid a belated visit to HADA Contemporary to catch their exhibition of Park Seungmo’s latest work. I managed to miss his show last year, and it was Shin Eunjeong who reviewed his 2012 solo show for this site, so … [Read More]
Kim Young-ha rounds off the Korea Market Focus events in London
The final event of the Korea Market Focus of London Book Fair 2014 took place last night at the London Review Bookshop near the British Museum – a fascinating and engaging conversation between Kim Young-ha and young British writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn. Kim is off to Brasilia this weekend for another book event … [Read More]
In pictures: London Book Fair, day 3 – looking forward, looking back
The London Book Fair is over now, but the collaboration with Korea continues, for which a huge thank-you is due to the British Council and the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that Britain (or was it the UK?) is invited as guest country at the Seoul Book … [Read More]
In pictures: London Book Fair, day 2
Day 2 of the London Book Fair, in which: Han Kang said very nice things about her translator (Deborah Smith) and Shin Kyung-sook called hers her “twin soul”; We discovered that Kim Young-ha was about to start writing a historical novel set in the Joseon dynasty, only to find out that Kim Insuk had already … [Read More]
In pictures: London Book Fair, day 1
Hwang Sok-yong, Kim Young-ha, Lee Seung-u, Kim Hyesoon, Shin Kyoung-sook, Yi Mun-yol, Krys Lee… and those were just the Korean literary figures that we got to see today. There were plenty more talks – mainly focusing on the Korean publishing industry – that we didn’t get to, thanks to unfortunate scheduling clashes, and writers from … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Kim Jihee — Between the Lines, at cueB Gallery
In quick succession, London has had three exhibitions by Korean artists who use books as a medium. All three artists destroy the book: Kwon Jukhee shreds the pages into tiny strips to transform the books into sculptures in which the paper cascades like a waterfall; Chun Kwang-young tears pages out of the books and uses … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Tak Ki-hyoung — Loyalty, at Mokspace
Tak Ki-hyoung is Senior Director of Photography at the Hankyoreh newspaper. He lives in Northeast Seoul near Mount Cho An (초안산), where there is the site of graves of Joseon dynasty court officials. The site is now overgrown, and nestling amidst the woodland are solitary statues which acted as sentinels for the tombs. Tak is … [Read More]
In pictures: Leonard Johansson — Confessions of an Opium Eater, at Hanmi Gallery
Hanmi Gallery’s latest exhibition – on for a month, which is twice as long as most of their previous shows – features Leonard Johansson, who is based is London and of Swedish and Korean parents. Johansson takes his inspiration from Thomas De Quincey’s account of his quest for heightened experiences through substance abuse. In the … [Read More]
Exhibition visit: Ha Young Kim’s Modern Soup at 43 Inverness Street
The first exhibition of 2014 at 43 Inverness Street drew to a close last weekend: their second solo show by Ha Young Kim. Gallery director Suzie Lee talks about the work and its reception in the below video: The opening of the exhibition was a festive affair, with daegeum player Hyelim Kim performing behind Ha … [Read More]