The KCCUK is pleased to announce a talk about the Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories with the editor Bruce Fulton, moderated by Grace Koh. This eclectic, moving and enjoyable collection is the essential introduction to Korean literature. Journeying through Korea’s dramatic twentieth century, from the Japanese occupation and colonial era to the devastating Korean … [Read More]
Publisher: Penguin
Selected publications
- Oh Jung-hee: Chinatown tr Bruce Fulton, Ju-chan Fulton 2025
- Soyoung Park: Snowglobe 2 tr Joungmin Lee Comfort 2025
- Han Kang: We Do Not Part tr Emily Yae Won 2025
- You Yeong-gwang: The Rainfall Market tr Slin Jung 2024
- Kim Soo-hyun: I Decided to Live as Me tr Anton Hur 2024
- Kim Ryeo-ryeong: The Trunk tr The KoLab 2024
- Jungeun Yun: Marigold Mind Laundry tr Shanna Tan 2024
- Hyun Sook Kim: No Rules Tonight tr Ryan Estrada 2024
- Soyoung Park: Snowglobe tr Joungmin Lee Comfort 2024
- Djuna: Counterweight tr Anton Hur 2023
- Hannah Michell: Excavations 2023
- Elise Hu: Flawless: Lessons in Looks and Culture from the K-Beauty Capital 2023
- Anthology: The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories ed Bruce Fulton 2023
- Han Kang: Greek Lessons tr Deborah Smith, Emily Yae Won 2023
- Geoff White: The Lazarus Heist: From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea’s Global Cyber War 2022
- Sylvia Yu Friedman: A Long Road to Justice: Stories from the Frontlines in Asia 2021
- Choi Yoon: Skinship 2021
- Choi Eun-young: Shoko’s Smile tr Sung Ryu 2021
- Grandma Marina, Grandpa Chan: Looking Back Life Was Beautiful: Drawings for My Grandchildren tr Sophie Bowman 2020
- Frances Cha: If I Had Your Face 2020
- Geoffrey Cain: Samsung Rising: Inside the secretive company conquering Tech 2020
- Y Euny Hong: The Power of Nunchi: The Korean Secret to Happiness and Success 2019
- Younghill Kang: East Goes West 2019
- Kim Man-jung: The Nine Cloud Dream tr Heinz Insu Fenkl 2019
- Jooyun Hong, Suh Yoon Lee: The Having: The Secret Art of Feeling and Growing Rich 2019
- Haemin Sunim: Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection tr Deborah Smith 2019
- Haemin Sunim: The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World tr Kim Chi-young 2018
- Mary Lynn Bracht: White Chrysanthemum 2018
- Michael Breen: The New Koreans: The Business, History and People of South Korea 2017
- Heo Kyun, Trad / anon: The Story of Hong Gildong tr Minsoo Kang 2016
- Yeonmi Park: In Order To Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom 2016
- Paul Fischer: A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power 2015
- Jang Jin-sung: Dear Leader tr Shirley Lee 2014
- Hwang Sun-mi: The Hen who Dreamed she could Fly tr Kim Chi-young 2013
- Cullen Thomas: Brother One Cell: An American Coming of Age in South Korea’s Prisons 2006
- Margaret Drabble: The Red Queen 2004
- Nora Okja Keller: Fox Girl 2002
- Nora Okja Keller: Comfort Woman 1998
- Simon Winchester: Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles 1988
- Richard E Kim: The Martyred 1964
What an AI-generated book review looks like
The latest version of of the invaluable Jetpack WordPress plugin, released today, has a new feature: an AI module that writes blog posts for you if you are feeling lazy. So I typed in the following text and hit the “send” button: Please write a review of Han Kang’s novel “Greek Lessons” This is because … [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]
Literature and poetry in translation titles for 2021: more than a dozen to look forward to!
This is now LKL’s fifth annual post that looks at the literature and fiction titles we’re looking forward to over the coming twelve months. Since last year we’ve made things easier for ourselves by investing some time building a book database that aims to catalogue all physical publications of Korean literature in translation, as well … [Read More]
Upcoming literature and fiction titles in 2020 [updated]
I’m hoping that, as in previous years, by posting my own list of upcoming literature and fiction titles – pulled together by some targeted searching on Amazon and a trawl through Barbara J Zitwer’s website – I might persuade others to supplement it from their own specialist knowledge. Whatever happens, books inevitably fall through the … [Read More]
Upcoming literature and fiction titles for 2019
Here’s my first attempt at compiling a list of fiction and poetry titles coming up in 2019. Let me know what I’ve missed. Unlike my separate list of non-fiction I have not exercised any editorial control here: this is everything I have been able to find. The list is in four parts: Modern and contemporary … [Read More]
New and upcoming literature and fiction titles for 2018
From classic Joseon dynasty ghost stories, via historical fiction set in the reign of Queen Min, to the latest in translated literature, we take a look at some of the books to look forward to in 2018. Our look at non-fiction titles can be found here. Contemporary Korean literature in translation Hwang Sok-yong’s novel At … [Read More]
Double book review: two takes on Shin Sang-ok
Paul Fischer: A Kim Jong-il Production Penguin / Viking 2015, 353pp Steven Chung: Split Screen Korea – Shin Sang-ok and Postwar Cinema University of Minnesota Press 2014, 262pp The story of actress Choi Eun-hee and Shin Sang-ok combines elements of both romance and thriller as well as representing important phases in the history of film … [Read More]
“Jazz” in the DPRK: Autumn Whispers and the forbidden fruit of Richard Clayderman
I’ve just finished reading Jang Jin-sung’s memoir, Dear Leader. It’s a real page-turner that will appeal to many types of readers, including people who like a good adventure story (the passages describing Jang’s evasion of Chinese and North Korean security forces once he has fled from the North Korean capital are genuinely exciting) and of … [Read More]
Book Review: Hwang Sunmi — The Hen who Dreamed she could Fly
A brief fable that can delight children and adults alike, the story touches on themes of motherly love, discrimination, otherness, and belonging, while also touching on and accepting the harsh realities of life — and death. As the novel starts, we wonder if we are going to be force-fed a heavy political allegory. Sprout, the … [Read More]
Book review: Richard E Kim — The Martyred
Richard E. Kim: The Martyred First published by George Braziller, 1964 Published in Penguin Classics 2011, with introduction by Heinz Insu Fenzl and Preface by Susan Choi. 199 pp Fourteen North Korean priests are rounded up by the communists just before North Korea invades the South in June 1950. Twelve of the priests are shot, … [Read More]
Nora Okja Keller: Comfort woman / Fox Girl
(Penguin, 1997/Virago 2000) (Penguin 2002/Marion Boyars 2002) Novels told from the perspective of a female underclass — prostitutes in Seoul or Shamans in the Korean community in Hawaii. Well worth a read. Links: Buy Fox Girl | Comfort Woman at Amazon.co.uk [Read More]