2 Korean novelists invited to PEN World festival

By Yun Suh-young

Korean novelists Bae Su-ah and Han Yu-joo will attend the global literary festival "PEN World Voices Festival" held in New York from May 1 through 7, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) said Tuesday.

The 13th annual event is themed "Gender and Power" this year and is inviting 150 writers from 40 countries. The two participating authors from Korea are sponsored by the LTI Korea. Other Korean writers Ko Eun (2006), Hwang Seok-young (2006, 2009, 2012) and Kim Young-ha (2011) have previously participated.

The PEN World Voices Festival was founded by PEN America and novelist Salman Rushdie to expand the literary horizon and to exchange diverse literature among cultures after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. PEN America is the American branch of the global membership association of prominent literary writers and editors, PEN International.

The two Korean authors, Bae and Han, are participating at the event as they have both published novels in the U.S. this year with the support of LTI Korea. Bae published "Recitation" in January and Han released "The Impossible Fairy Tale" in March.

Both authors have received positive reviews from noted American literary magazines. The Publisher’s Weekly wrote, "This transfixing experimental novel questions where sleep ends and books begin" about Han's "The Impossible Fairy Tale." Music & Literature said "Bae’s stylistic choice is not arbitrary: it serves to situate us within her protagonists' consciousness as they pick their way through life with an almost nonexistent regard for the future, and an almost obsessive preoccupation with the past" on Bae’s "Recitation."

Han attended the Girl-Powered Fiction section of the bookstore Shakespeare & Co.'s event on Tuesday and Bae will participate in the Auto-Fiction section of New York University's French Institute on Friday to recite and discuss her novel. The Westbeth Gallery in New York will feature both authors at the salon style reading and discussion session, "Literary Quest: Westbeth Edition" on Thursday.