Autumn Hails Book Festivals
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Scorching heat is giving way to cool autumn breeze. Fall is considered to be the best season for reading books because of its mild weather and calm atmosphere. To make good use of the season, various book festivals and events are taking place around the city this month.
Seoul Wow Book Festival
The 5th Seoul Wow Book Festival will be held from Sept. 18 to 24 near Hongik University.
The festival offers 53 cultural events such as meetings with authors, book fairs, exhibitions and a street book market in which 75 publishers will participate.
This year's festival has been lengthened from the three-day festival from previous years to a seven-day event due to its growing popularity.
Myung Roh-jin, the host and actor-turned-author, will hold a session every evening on the first three days in which writer Kim Young-wook, renowned for ``The Painting Book Meets Music,'' will explain his book and talk to readers.
Han Seong-ju, former Miss Korea and an entertainer, will host a charity event to raise funds for providing books to underprivileged children. Also, Latin jazz band Prism will perform at the event on Sept. 19.
The festival will mostly shed light on science fiction, fantasy and horror literature, focusing on the late Kim Nae-sung ― the nation's first detective novelist.
After studying in Japan, Kim emerged on the scene in Japanese detective literature journal ``Profile'' in 1937.
After that, he returned to Korea and published more than 10 detective novels. His works, published between the late 1930s and early 1940s, including two in Japanese, were regarded as revolutionary ― introducing the first detective novels to the peninsula. His books, dealing with impulsive and destructive instincts such as murder and abnormal lusts, paved the way for future detective authors.
The event is designed to mark the 100th anniversary of Kim's birth and features the advent of genre literature in Korea through his works and contemporary authors. Visitors can talk to famous genre literature authors, and participate in a colloquium and exhibition.
The exhibition will display a variety of genre literary books in collaboration with the SF Fantasy Library from Sept. 18 to 20.
Bae Myung-hoon, renowned for his recent novel ``Tower,'' and Kim I-hwan, for ``Alien at 5 P.M.,'' will give a brief lecture on writing and the publishing world to fans on Sept. 23, while genre literature critics such as Cho Young-il, Kim Bong-seok and Lee Young-do will discuss the future of genre literature in Korea.
Novelist Kim Yeon-soo will hold a fan meeting at Caf? de Gorilla about his new book, ``Girl Friend, End of World'' on Sept. 22.
About 100 booths set up by 73 publishers will present books at the street markets (located in parking lots near Hongik University) from Sept. 18 to 20.
The festival will offer a photo exhibition by Choi Ban, featuring scenes of his travels to India, from Sept. 18 to 20 at the Seogyo Arts Experiment Center. About 30 photos from "John Muir Trail" by Shin Byung-chul, capturing the natural beauty of lakes, trees and wild animals, will be displayed at the same venue.
The festival will also operate a ``container library'' for children that will be filled with books from Sept. 18 to 20.
Autumn Book & Culture Festival
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold a book festival from Sept. 24 to 27 at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul.
At the book reading session, ``The Land,'' written by Park Kyung-ni, will be recited by readers. Also, the drama of the same name will be performed at the museum's outdoor stage.
Celebrated authors such as Noh Hee-kyung, Gong Ji-young, Kim Hoon and Shin Kyung-sook will talk with their fans in a Q&A session. Also, film directors Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho will hold a meeting with fans talking about books that were adapted into films.
Children's books and illustrations will be on display with various cultural programs such as face painting and character corners to make children experience fantasy through fairytale characters.
At the corner of the festival venue, visitors can try out various e-book devices through laptop computers and portable multimedia players (PMP).
Exhibition of Dongui Bogam
The National Library of Korea is holding a special exhibition to mark September as the primary reading month and celebrate the placement of ``Dongui-bogam,'' an encyclopedic medical book written in the 17th century during the Joseon Kingdom, in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register on July 30.
The ``Dongui Bogam'' was written by court physician, Heo Jun, and published by the Medical Center for the Royal Family of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).
After traveling around the country searching for accessible remedies, Heo (1546-1615) wrote the book in 1610 following an order by King Seonjo (1552-1608), who was looking to find an innovative public health program. It was published in 1613 by the royal institute.
The ``Dongui Bogam'' consists of 25 volumes divided into five chapters ― ``Naegyeong'' (Overview of the Inner Body), which deals with the book's worldview; ``Oehyeong'' (External Appearance), which explains the medical function of visible parts in the human body; ``Japbyeong,'' which is about various diseases; two chapters on ``Tang-aek,'' which discusses how to collect, process, prescribe and use substances for medicinal effects; and ``Chimgu,'' or acupuncture.
The two sets in existence today were first preserved in the two national archives at Mt. Odae and Mt. Jeoksang, and are now under the National Library of Korea and Jangseogak at the Academy of Korean Studies, respectively.
The exhibition showcases 176 pieces of materials relevant to Heo and the medical books through videos and other digital contents. The exhibition will continue until Sept. 25 at the Digital Library.
In addition to the exhibition, the library is holding various cultural activities such as literature review contests to boost reading among children.