By Chung Ah-young
Staff reporter
The 3rd Seoul International Writers Festival will kick off a five-day event on May 10 under the theme ``Fantasy and Empathy.''
The biennale event will feature 24 authors ― 12 Korean and 12 from overseas ― who will take part in diverse programs including readings, book signings and meetings with their fans, and also the Seoul International Book Festival.
The festival will start with open discussions titled ``Fantasy in My Work'' on May 10 and 11 at the House of Literature, Seoul. Participants will talk about their world of literature and the concepts behind their work to the Korean audience. The authors will also read selections from their work to the Korean audience.
On May 12 and 13, they will take part in a cultural experience at Korean traditional houses in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.
On the last day of the writers' festival, the authors will participate in the book festival to be held from May 12 to 16 at COEX, southern Seoul and hold book signings and reading events there.
Five foreign poets ― Maja Lee Langvad, Edwin Thumboo, Vivek Narayanan, Ines Abassi and Gilles Cyr ― will also hold a reading session there from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Lee Langvad is a Korean-Danish writer, whose debut work was ``Find Ogier the Dane,'' a collection of conceptual poetry and prose published in 2006. The book illustrates a wide range of matters including adoption, national identity, racism, and immigration and refugee policies in Denmark.
Currently, she is writing a collection of conceptual poetry and prose about international adoption and her experiences living in South Korea.
Thumboo, emeritus professor of the National University of Singapore, has contributed to Singapore's literary development since 1951. He has published five volumes of poetry ― the latest being ``Still Travelling'' (2008). He has received the NBC Singapore Book Award for Poetry in English three times (1978, 1980, 1994), the Southeast Asian Writers' Award (1979), the Singapore Cultural Medallion (1980), the ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award in Literature (1987) and the Raja Rao Award (2002).
Narayanan has lived, worked and studied in a number of countries, including Zambia, South Africa and the United States. In 2006, He published his first collection of poems ``Universal Beach'' (Mumbai: Harbour Line, 2006), and both his prose and poetry are widely available online and in print. He has tried to mix poetry with other artistic forms in a series of collaborations, experimenting with technology, physical space, movement, site-specific poetry and audience-generated poetry.
Abassi is a Tunisian-born poet, writer and journalist who lives in the United Arab Emirates. In 2004, her poetry collection ``Secrets of the Wind'' was published in Tunisia, winning the best selection of poetry that year. She has participated in numerous literary activities including the Asia Africa Literature Festival in Jeonju. She has also spent six months in Seoul as a participant of the Residency Programs for International Writers offered by LTI Korea. Based on her experience during the period, she wrote a narrative book, ``Tales of Korean Shaharazade,'' which was also published in Lebanon, about Korean society, culture, history and habits.
Cyr is a Canadian poet and translator. Cyr has translated numerous works into French, including three books of South Korean poetry (Cho Jung-kwon, Ko Un and an anthology).
Also, five novelists ― Hallgimur Helgason, Junot Diaz, Leena Krohn, Andrey Kurkov and Lee Min-jin ― will have a book signing session at 12 p.m. at COEX.
Helgason is an Icelandic writer, who was originally a painter with numerous exhibitions held in Iceland and abroad. He lived in New York and Paris for 10 years, and has published seven novels and a collection of poetry since 1990. In 2001 he was awarded the Icelandic Literary Prize for the novel, ``The Author of Iceland.'' His best known books are ``101 Reykjavik'' (1996), which was made into a film, and ``Stormland'' (2005) that will also soon be made into a movie.
Diaz, the author of ``Drown'' and ``The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,'' which received the Pulitzer Prize, is a Guggenheim Fellow and Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Krohn has penned some 30 books in Finnish including novels, short stories, essays and children's books. Her books have been translated into 15 languages including Korean. She often talks about the relationship between fiction and reality, art and morality, as well as perception and imagination.
Ukrainian writer Kurkov has written screenplays, essays, novels and books for children. His books have been translated into 33 languages. There are more than 20 films, including features, documentaries, shorts and TV-movies based on his scripts.
Korean-American author Lee's debut novel, ``Free Food for Millionaires'' was a New York Times Editor's Choice, a Wall Street Journal Juggle Book Club Selection and a national bestseller. It was listed as one of the Top 10 Novels of the Year by The Times of London, NPR'S Fresh Air and USA Today.
Polish author Iwona Chmielewska and Japanese writer Satoshi Kitamura will meet their fans at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. at COEX, respectively.
For more information, visit siwf.klti.or.kr.