Future of K-lit: Redefining cultural phenomenon on global stage

Taylor Bradley of publisher Honford Star gives a lecture for Royal Asiatic Society Korea at the Seoul Public Activities Center in central Seoul, Sept. 23. Courtesy of Emily Serby

Whether we like it or not, the next chapter of Korean literature may live onscreen.

Korean literature, or K-lit, has emerged as a new global cultural frontier. International sales of Korean titles surged following Han Kang’s 2024 Nobel Prize win, but for many Korean publishers, high-profile book deals are no longer the end goal; they’re just the beginning.

Taylor Bradley, co-founder of Honford Star publishing house, gave a lecture for Royal Asiatic Society Korea on Sept. 23, discussing how Korean publishers are increasingly evaluating new works for cinematic potential.

Bradley pointed to the example of Safehouse Inc. Korea, a company that is, as he noted, “designed to sell IP content — originally they weren’t even a publishing company.” Today, while Safehouse certainly publishes books, Bradley emphasized that its real business is in selling stories aimed at reaching a global market.

Bradley’s own U.K.-based Honford Star is proof of the success that translated East Asian media can enjoy abroad. Co-founded by Bradley and Anthony Bird, the independent publisher got its start in 2015 after a conversation at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub in London — one of Charles Dickens’ reported haunts, according to Bradley. From there, the two jumped into publishing with a dream of bridging literary worlds.

Two titles have since earned worldwide acclaim. Honford Star received International Booker Prize recognition for “Cursed Bunny,” written by Bora Chung and translated by Anton Hur (shortlisted in 2022), and “Ninth Building,” written by Zou Jingzhi and translated by Jeremy Tiang (longlisted in 2023).

After the initial success of the English translation of “Cursed Bunny,” Bradley recalled the Korean publisher touting its international recognition, even redesigning the Korean cover to match Honford Star’s version. The experience underscored a shift Bradley has seen in the mindset of larger publishing houses here — they’re increasingly seeing new titles as potential global media properties.

To explain the international success of select Korean novels, webtoons and other media frequently adapted for films, TV or streaming, Bradley cited three main factors: cultural climate, funding and new professional networks.

He mentioned a key cultural driving factor: BTS. “BTS is so popular that books that BTS reads become popular in English,” he said, noting how group leader RM gave a real boost to “Kim Ji-young, Born 1982,” written by Cho Nam-ju, after he was seen reading it in public.

Bradley also pointed to the growing popularity of “healing fiction” as an unlikely commercial success. He explained that most healing fiction titles feature low-stakes, comforting storylines, with a protagonist down on their luck, and that this type of story is gaining popularity globally, especially in the postpandemic era.

These are all distinct Korean cultural forces, but each has gained significant international reach, underscoring the fact that Korean literature, like other media, does not exist in isolation.

Funding for K-lit, meanwhile, has been driven by generous support from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), which helps reduce the financial risks associated with publishing by covering translation costs. Bradley noted that LTI Korea has consistently been a key player in getting K-lit out into the public with very few strings attached for publishers.

“It’s not just the money that helps, but it’s the fact that it’s offsetting a lot of risk for us,” he said.

He argued that because LTI Korea allows foreign companies to customize publications based on the market in their own countries, rather than stipulating what works get translated, Korean literature is becoming more commercially successful compared to other countries that may enforce tighter restrictions.

Along with funding, Bradley said new professional networks have expanded as outward-looking publishers, translators and agents have entered the field, reshaping the translation space, even going so far as to say that translators are doubling as their own marketers. He cited Anton Hur as “a superstar translator” — one whose name has become synonymous with great translation, and thus helps drive sales.

Bradley acknowledged that Honford Star’s own catalog has evolved over the past decade, along with the cultural shift. Originally dedicated to reviving forgotten classics that would otherwise “not see the light of day,” the publisher has pivoted to straddle the realms of sci-fi, fantasy and literary fiction — a combination Bradley called “the sweet spot.”

Bradley’s lecture repeatedly addressed a “new wave” in the publishing sphere. Safehouse is perhaps the clearest signpost of where K-lit is headed — with streaming deals in mind from the start. Two of its titles were adapted into the “SF8” television series (2020), underscoring Bradley’s point that “it’s not just about selling books, but selling movies, webtoons, streaming.”

For Bradley, the globalization of K-lit is nothing new. What is new is the scale and the screen. Bradley noted that he expects Korean literature to experience a continuous boom over the next 10 years “as a counterpart to increased Korean translations abroad.”

He concluded, “As translation is a door for Korea into the world, a door has both sides.”

And in a market where a breakout adaptation can elevate a novel to global bestseller status, creating stories for the screen may represent the future of — and a new blueprint for — Korean publishing.

Emily Serby is the host of Seoul Silent Book Club and a literary designer/marketing consultant currently working with dbBOOKS. She’s committed to building a more engaging literary community in Seoul.