Han Kang wins Italian literary award
Han Kang / Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
Korean author Han Kang has won this year's Malaparte Prize, Italy's most authoritative literary award, for her latest work, “Human Acts.”
Han, 47, accepted the prize on Sunday at a ceremony on the southern island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples for her novel, released in 2014.
The novel tells the story of Dong-ho, a young boy killed in the military's bloody crackdown on the Gwangju citizens' pro-democracy uprising in May 1980.
Italian publisher Adelphi published the novel under the title "Atti Umani” on Sep. 14.
It was translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith, who received global recognition for her translation of Han's novel “The Vegetarian”, which won the 2016 Man Booker Prize.
“I wanted to dedicate this book to those bereaved families, the dead, and the survivors from the Gwangju uprising,” Han said in an acceptance speech.
“I did nothing but write a book. They indeed helped me.”