Strangers Press, which brought us Yeoyu. a series of eight translated short story chapbooks in 2019, this week released a follow-up. The new series is entitled Iyagi and features works by both established and emerging authors – including what seems to be a posthumously published work by Park Wansuh. According to the publisher, “Each of these … [Read More]
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K-Music Festival 2023: the official press release
The KCC and Serious announce the line-up for the 10th iteration of the K-music Festival. Expect new music from Leenalchi and Jambinai, some new collaborations, and performers that are new to the festival. The festival runs from 1 October to 12 November. [Read More]
Book review: Hawon Jung – Flowers of Fire
Hawon Jung’s book is a thorough and very readable look at South Korea’s #MeToo movement and the problems of misogyny and gender discrimination that gave rise to it. Highly recommended. [Read More]
Book review: Cheon Myeong-kwan — Whale
The Man Booker International Prize started in its current annual form in 2016 and was famously won that year by Han Kang and Deborah Smith with The Vegetarian. Since then, hopes of a Korean repeat success have been kept alive with titles in the longlist (At Dusk (2019), Love in the Big City (2022)) and … [Read More]
Book review: Make, Break, Remix
Trying to encapsulate a country’s design aesthetic, even when looking back at the past, is a challenge. With Korea, one might start suggesting that the monochrome art movement of the last 50 years or so, the simplicity of hanok architecture and the purity of Joseon dynasty white porcelain points towards an overriding aesthetic of restraint … [Read More]
A Tapestry of North Korean Flavours: Weaving Life Stories through Food
On Saturday June 24, a North Korean food exhibition took place at the Methodist Church in New Malden. The event was was part of the Mayor of London’s Community Weekend, which encourages people to engage with their local communities, and was organized by the charity organization Connect: North Korea to raise awareness of their work and … [Read More]
The Sancheong World Traditional Medicine Anti-Aging Expo: reaching beyond Korea to heal the world.
The 2023 Sancheong World Traditional Medicine and Anti-Aging Expo (“Sancheong Expo”) will be held in Donguibogam Village, Sancheong County, from 15 September to 19 October 2023. The theme of this healing expo is “Promise of the Future, Traditional Medicine in the World”. Visitors can enjoy health and healing through the experience of traditional medicine from … [Read More]
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Recent Event updates
SuHo “Welcome to Su:Home” tour in London
Suho, the leader of boy band Exo and its sub-unit Exo-K, is coming to London as part of a five-country European tour. He came to London in the summer of 2022 to participate in Southwark’s “Made in Korea” K-pop and Hip-hop festival, but this is his first headline appearance here. Ticket details have yet to … [External Link]
Ambiguous Dance Company: The Belt
The Coronet Theatre’s first ever site-specific performance. This September Korea’s highest-profile dance company will make a series of world premieres – a fully staged performance and a series of site-specific pieces – created specially for the atmospheric backstage corners of this 19th century theatre. High octane and daring, Ambiguous Dance Company‘s CV includes collaborations with … [External Link]
Seoul Manner, by Bek Hyunjin
Korean legend and innovator, Bek Hyunjin – actor, contemporary artist, installation artist, performance artist, and musician – presents an exhilarating evening of entertaining, meaningful performance that draws you into the enigmatic beauty and drama of Korean lyrics and art. [External Link]
2024 Kpop UK National Competition: applications now open
The Kpop UK National Competition 2024 has officially launched. The finals will be in Kingston’s Rose Theatre on Sunday 20 October – full details to be announced. In the meanwhile, the important thing is to get your application forms in. As usual, the competition’s Instagram account, @kpopuknationalcompetition, is the official source of information, and updates … [Read More]
Madmans Esprit European tour in London
Madmans Esprit, the five-piece South Korean black metal band formed by vocalist Kyuho Lee, is coming to London as part of a six-country European tour – “The world as collective reflections”. Emerging from the vibrant underground music scene of Seoul, Madmans Esprit is the brainchild of enigmatic artist Kyuho. With a lineup of session musicians, … [Read More]
XG “The first HOWL” tour in Manchester and London
XG is a 7-member HIPHOP/R&B-inspired Japanese girl group based in South Korea. The band consists of JURIN, CHISA, HINATA, HARVEY, JURIA, MAYA, and COCONA. They debuted in March 2022 with their 1st Single “Tippy Toes” under the global entertainment production company “XGALX,” known for creating artist groups with a unique worldview and broadcasting a “BOLD” … [Read More]
The above events list includes recent updates to events which might have been uploaded some time ago (eg an update confirming venue or ticket link). A chronological listing of all event notices published, most recent first, can be found here. A list of all upcoming events can be found here.
Recent Book updates
The Eyes Are The Best Part
My Sister, the Serial Killer meets Boy Parts, this literary feminist howl-of-a-debut is going to crawl right under your skin… Ji-won’s life is in disarray. Her father’s affair has ripped her family to shreds, leaving her to piece their crappy lives back together. So, when her mother’s obnoxious new white boyfriend enters the scene, bragging … [Read More]
Painter of the Wind
A heart-wrenching and gripping novel with over a million copies sold! Painter of the Wind is a masterful novel that was adapted into a popular, award winning South Korean TV series. This gem of a book also delights readers with a rare collection of thirty-four colour paintings, including Shin Yun-bok’s Portrait of a Beauty and Kim Hong-do’s Wrestling. Set … [Read More]
Cursed Bunny
Cursed Bunny is a genre-defying collection of short stories by Korean author Bora Chung. Blurring the lines between magical realism, horror, and science-fiction, Chung uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society. Anton Hur’s translation skilfully captures the way Chung’s prose … [Read More]
Your Utopia
By the internationally acclaimed author of Cursed Bunny, in another thrilling translation from the Korean by Anton Hur, Your Utopia is full of tales of loss and discovery, idealism and dystopia, death and immortality. “Nothing concentrates the mind like Chung’s terrors, which will shrivel you to a bouillon cube of your most primal instincts” (Vulture), yet these stories … [Read More]
Saha
In a country called ‘Town’, Su is found dead in an abandoned car. The suspected killer is presumed to come from the Saha Estates. Town is a privatised country, controlled by a secretive organisation known as the Seven Premiers. It is a society clearly divided into the haves and have-nots and those who have the … [Read More]
I’m Waiting for You: And Other Stories
A stunning collection of short fiction by one of South Korea’s most treasured writers, available in English for the first time. ‘Her fiction is a breath-taking piece of a cinematic art itself. Reminiscent of the world we experienced in The Matrix, Inception, and Dark City, still it leads us to this entirely original structure, which … [Read More]
The above booklist includes recent updates to books which might have been uploaded some time ago (eg an update to reflect a release of cover art, or a new review). A chronological listing of all books uploaded, most recent first, can be found here.