Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Seoul Int'l Book Fair explores sustainable coexistence with 'nonhumans' through literature

A poster for the Seoul International Book Fair 2023 features the event's six ambassadors ― from left, Korean novelists Cheon Seon-ran, Pyun Hye-young, Oh Jung-hee, Kim In-suk, Kim Ae-ran and Choi Eun-young. Courtesy of Korean Publishers AssociationBy Park Han-solAn official poster for the Seoul International Book Fair 2023 / Courtesy of Korean Publishers AssociationThe Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF), known as the largest annual book and publishing trade show in Korea, will return to COEX in southern Seoul on Wednesday.Book lovers from across the country are expected to flock to the five-day event to attend a string of lectures, talks, seminars and exhibitions led by over 210 guest speakers and 530 publishers from 36 nations.This year's edition, hosted by the Korean Publishers Association, will kick off under the theme, “Nonhuman.” It aims to steer away from centuries of anthropocentric beliefs, instead seeking a new framework of sustainable coexistence with all nonhuman creatures and objects.Prominent literary heavyweights are set to take part in the fair.Viet Thanh

Jun 12, 2023By Park Han-sol

Seoul Int'l Book Fair explores sustainable coexistence with 'nonhumans' through literature

Bookstore specializing in film is haven for readers and seaside lovers alike

Eastcine Bookshop in Jeongdongjin, Gangneung, Gangwon Province, is a bookstore and cafe that curates books mainly on films, animal rights and veganism. Korea Times photo by Kwak Yeon-sooBy Kwak Yeon-sooJeongdongjin, a small town near Gangneung, Gangwon Province, is known for its immaculate white sand beaches and emerald green waters along the East Sea. About a two-hour KTX train from Seoul, it is one of Korea's most popular sunrise-watching spots. There, a couple runs an independent bookstore and cafe in Jeongdongjin that opens its doors early to match the times of sunrise. In June, when sunrises are earlier, they open around 5 a.m. The bookstore curates books mainly on films, animal rights and veganism. Oh Seung-hee, the owner of Eastcine Bookshop, revealed she and her husband operated an independent bookstore in Seoul for five years before moving to Jeongdongjin in 2020. “Most of all, we wanted to leave Seoul,” she said during an interview with The Korea Times at her bookstore, Monday. “My husband wanted to live near nature and in clean air. I wished to live near

Jun 8, 2023By Kwak Yeon-soo

Bookstore specializing in film is haven for readers and seaside lovers alike

Baek Hee-na's picture book 'Magic Candies' wins Italian literary award

The cover image of Baek Hee-na's picture book "Magic Candies," the winner of the SuperPremio Anderson 2023, is seen in this photo provided by its publisher Bear Books. YonhapKorean author Baek Hee-na's picture book "Magic Candies" has won the SuperPremio Anderson 2023, a top prize from Italy's most prestigious children's book awards. "Magic Candies" was chosen as the book of the year from the award dedicated to the memory of Gualtiero Schiaffino, the founder of the Italian magazine Andersen, according to the magazine's homepage. The announcement was made during a ceremony in Genoa in northwestern Italy on Saturday (local time). An enlarged jury of nearly 200 booksellers, librarians, journalists and scholars from Italy voted for the book of the year. First published in Korean in 2017, the story follows a boy who discovers a bag of candies and gets mystic hearing power. It adds another award to the internationally acclaimed picture book artist, who is known for "Cloud Bread" (2004), "Strange Mom" (2016) and "I Am a Dog" (2019).In 2020, Baek won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the w

Jun 1, 2023

Baek Hee-na's picture book 'Magic Candies' wins Italian literary award

Prix Goncourt exhibition

Julien Cats, charge d'affaires a.i. at the French Embassy to Korea, delivers a speech on behalf of French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Lefort during the opening ceremony for the "Exhibition: History of Prix Goncourt" at the National Library of Korea in southern Seoul, Thursday. The exhibit aims to introduce the Prix Goncourt, a French literary award, to highlight bold and original French literature to Korean readers. It features some 80 works in their original French versions and Korean translations, set to run through June 25. Courtesy of National Library of Korea

May 26, 2023By Kwon Mee-yoo

Korean literature in translation enjoys growing universal appeal

From left, book cover of "Whale," "Violets" and "Love in the Big City" / Courtesy of Literature Translation Institute of KoreaBy Kwak Yeon-sooAs Korean literature in translation continues to reach more international readers, Korean authors are achieving a growing presence in the global publishing market. So far, a total of eight novels have been nominated for prestigious literary awards this year.Although it missed out on the 2023 International Booker Prize, novelist-director Cheon Myeong-kwan's “Whale,” translated by Kim Chi-young, was shortlisted for the British literary award. He is the third Korean writer to be shortlisted for the award following “The Vegetarian” and “The White Book” author Han Kang, who was selected in 2016 and 2018, and “Cursed Bunny” author Bora Chung, who was selected last year.“Whale,” a multi-generational tale that sheds light on growth and modernization in Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War, is set to be translated into several languages. The U.K. edition was released in January while the U.S. ver

May 26, 2023By Kwak Yeon-soo

Korean literature in translation enjoys growing universal appeal

Naver Webtoon's 'Hellbound' nominated for 2023 Eisner Awards

The poster for the web comic series "The Hellbound" by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok/Yonhap"The Hellbound," the original Korean webtoon on which a popular 2021 Netflix series was adapted from, has been nominated for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in the comics industry. "The Hellbound vols 1-2" by Yeon Sang-ho and Choi Gyu-seok, translated into English by Danny Lim, was named in the category of Best U.S. Edition of International Material―Asia, according to Comic Con International's homepage Thursday (local time).The comic series, which ran on Naver Webtoon from 2019-2020, was made into the Netflix Korean-language series "Hellbound" in November 2021, which topped the streamer's non-English TV show chart upon its release. Its second season is currently under production. Yeon, the animator and director of "Train to Busan" (2016), collaborated with Choi of the popular webtoon "Awl" on the story that features social turmoil and unrest after a series of inexplicable supernatural phenomena.Founded in 1988, the Eisner Awards is regarded as the comi

May 26, 2023

Naver Webtoon's 'Hellbound' nominated for 2023 Eisner Awards

Five Korean writers to participate in 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival

A poster for the 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival / Courtesy of LTI KoreaBy Kwak Yeon-sooFive Korean writers, whose works gained more recognition through English translation, will participate in the 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival, which runs from May 10-14.Founded in 1962, the Brisbane Writers Festival is the oldest continuous writers' festival in Australia and, as a large-scale literary festival, has more than 160 side events. The Literature Translation Institute (LTI) of Korea said Chung Bora, the author of “Cursed Bunny,” which was shortlisted for last year's International Booker Prize, and Choi Eun-young, whose English edition of short story collection “Shoko's Smile” was published by Penguin, will discuss the art of short fiction in the “Why is Short Fiction Important? (South Korean Focus)” session. Bae Suah, the author of “Nowhere to be Found,” which was longlisted for a PEN Translation Prize in 2016, and Krys Lee, a Korean-American writer and translator, will take part in a “Border Crossing” session to talk about how tr

May 8, 2023By Kwak Yeon-soo

Five Korean writers to participate in 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival

Poet Kim Hye-soon's 'Phantom Pain Wings' published in English

The cover of Kim Hye-soon's “Phantom Pain Wings” (2023), translated by Don Mee Choi / Courtesy of New Directions PublishingBy Park Han-solThe English-language translation of celebrated poet Kim Hye-soon's 2019 poetry collection, “Phantom Pain Wings,” has been published in the United States, Tuesday.The poignant anthology of 72 poems, the words of which were rendered in English by Korean American poet and translator Don Mee Choi, “depicts the memory of war trauma and the collective grief of parting through what (Kim) calls an 'I-do-bird-sequence,'” the publisher New Directions Publishing wrote on its website, calling it “winged ventriloquy.”To portray the endless struggles against injustice, Kim combines her signature experimental language with elements inspired by Korea's folklore and legends, as well as cultural legacies from different parts of the world.The poet made headlines in 2019 as the first Asian woman to be named the winner of the prestigious International Griffin Poetry Prize for her “Autobiography of Death,” whic

May 4, 2023By Park Han-sol

Poet Kim Hye-soon's 'Phantom Pain Wings' published in English

Cheon Myeong-kwan's 'Whale' shortlisted for 2023 International Booker Prize

South Korean novelist Cheon Myeong-kwan's "Whale" has been shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize, the British literary awards said Tuesday. First published in South Korea in 2004, Cheon's English-language debut, "Whale," was among the six nominees announced by the Booker Prize Foundation on its website.This image from the homepage of the Booker Prize shows the cover of Cheon Myeong-kwan's novel "Whale," which is longlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize. Yonhap"Whale" is a multi-generational saga composed of three parts that follow the lives of linked characters in a remote village in South Korea. "An adventure-satire of epic proportions, which sheds new light on the changes Korea experienced in its rapid transition from pre-modern to post-modern society," judges wrote earlier. "A fiction that brims with surprises and wicked humour, from one of the most original voices in South Korea." The final winner will receive the award at a ceremony in London on May 23. The top prize of 50,000 pounds (US$65,000) will be shared equally by the author and the translator.The

Apr 18, 2023

Cheon Myeong-kwan's 'Whale' shortlisted for 2023 International Booker Prize

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr discusses value of Francophone literature in Africa

Senegalese writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, center, speaks during a meeting with Korean readers at the National Library of Korea in southern Seoul, Friday. On the left is moderator Kim Bo-hyun, a French language and literature professor at Korea University, and right is interpreter Pyun Hye-won, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation. Courtesy of National Library of KoreaBy Kwon Mee-yooSenegalese writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is a rising star in African literature who won the 2021 Prix Goncourt, one of the most prestigious French literary awards, for his novel "The Most Secret Memory of Men."Sarr visited Korea last week as part of the French Embassy in Korea's Goncourt Choice 2022-2023 program, promoting French-language literature here. It also coincided with the annual Francophonie Week in Seoul.Ambassador of France to Korea Philippe Lefort said a Senegalese novelist writing in French truly symbolizes the global nature of Francophonie during a meeting between Sarr and Korean readers at the National Library of Korea in southern

Mar 27, 2023By Kwon Mee-yoo

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