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Korean picture books win international illustration awards

The covers of Lee Myung-ae's “Tomorrow Will Be a Sunny Day,” left, and Kim Hyo-eun's “I am the Subway” / Courtesy of Munhakdongne PublishingBy Park Han-solTwo critically-acclaimed Korean picture books ― Lee Myung-ae's “Tomorrow Will Be a Sunny Day” and Kim Hyo-eun's “I am the Subway” ― have been named as the winners of this year's major international illustration awards, their publisher Munhakdongne announced Friday.Lee's “Tomorrow Will Be a Sunny Day” received the Golden Apple prize at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB) in Slovakia, an event held with the support of UNESCO and the International Board on Books for Young People.It remains one of the most prestigious awards for children's book illustrations since 1967, along with the Bologna Ragazzi Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Award.Published in January of last year, Lee's picture book follows constantly-changing yellow shapes, which form a bus stop on one page, a crosswalk on the next and later, waves lapping on the shore. Through such a rhythmic mix of i

Oct 17, 2021By Park Han-sol

Korean picture books win international illustration awards

'Moms,' unfiltered portrait of Korea's 'invisible' middle-aged women, wins Harvey Award

The covers of the Korean edition of “Moms,” by Ma Yeong-shin, left, and the English edition, translated by Janet Hong / Courtesy of Humanist and Drawn & Quarterly, respectivelyBy Park Han-solGraphic novelist Ma Yeong-shin's book, “Moms,” a darkly humorous tale of four middle-aged women who refuse to be reduced to invisible wives and moms, has won the Harvey Award for the Best International Book of the year.The Harvey Awards has celebrated quality comic books, graphic novels and manga since its establishment in 1988 to commemorate the literary achievements of Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993), the American cartoonist, editor and pioneer of the genre.Among the five shortlisted contenders for the Best International Book category this year were Brecht Evans' “The City of Belgium,” Guy Delisle's “Factory Summers” and Michel Rabagliati's “Paul at Home.”“Moms” was first released in Korean in 2015 and was translated into English last year, with the aim of targeting the North American market through Canadian publisher Drawn

Oct 9, 2021By Park Han-sol

'Moms,' unfiltered portrait of Korea's 'invisible' middle-aged women, wins Harvey Award

Chief executive calls for depositing Lee Kun-hee's donated manuscripts in national library

Suh Hye-ran, chief executive of the National Library of Korea, speaks during a government audit held at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. Joint Press CorpsBy Park Han-solAmong the vast art collection donated to the National Museum of Korea (NMK) by the families of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee earlier this year, the ancient manuscripts should belong to the National Library of Korea (NLK), its chief executive, Suh Hye-ran, stated on Thursday.During the government audit of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee held in Yeouido, Seoul, Suh expressed concern that a large number of ancient documents now stored at the NMK's holding will “make it difficult for literary scholars and researchers to gain proper access to them.”In late April, the NMK became the biggest recipient of the Samsung's donation, securing a total of 21,693 artifacts. Among the massive art trove, more than a half of the items ― 12,558 relics, to be precise ― are books and manuscripts.Rep. Lee Che-ik of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), who ser

Oct 8, 2021By Park Han-sol

Chief executive calls for depositing Lee Kun-hee's donated manuscripts in national library

Ode to strong Korean mothers

This photo taken in 1988 by Jung Young-shin shows a woman walks down an unpaved road all the way to open-air market in Gure, South Jeolla Province, held every five days to buy daily necessities or to sell her agricultural products to earn a meager living. Courtesy of Noonbit PublishingJung Young-shin pays tribute to female farmers in her latest photo book, 'Homeland Mothers,' calling the publication long overdue By Kang Hyun-kyungPhotographer Jung Young-shin / Courtesy of Jung Young-shinJung Young-shin's latest photo book, “Homeland Mothers,” takes readers back to rural and underdeveloped scenes of Korea in the late 1980s. Elderly female farmers with tanned faces living rustic, seemingly primitive lives are captured in the poetic black and white photographs taken mostly in 1987 and 1988. Although they were taken only some three decades ago when parts of Korea were developed enough to host the 1988 Summer Olympics, farmers in rural areas still lived lives that seemed to be far from civilization. Using cows, they plowed their paddies before planting rice. Oil-based machines

Oct 6, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Hangeul in the age of AI: survival of the fittest?

This image features King Sejong the Great who invented Korean writing system, Hangeul. gettyimagesankThis is the first in a two-part Hangeul Day article series revisiting the meaning of the Korean alphabet in the age of artificial intelligence._ ED By Kang Hyun-kyungYi In-hwa's science fiction thriller “2061”Million-selling author Yi In-hwa's latest science fiction thriller, “2061,” published by StoryFriends, is a futuristic piece featuring the nationalistic theme of “Hangeul supremacy.” Humans and highly sophisticated humanoid robots coexist in a society powered by fully developed artificial intelligence (AI) four decades from now. Some humans and robots marry each other and give birth to hybrid half-human, half-robot children.In this fictional future, self-conscious, self-aware robots are able to express themselves fully. Speaking robots create a new problem in linguistics.Each talking robot has their own vocal transmitting apparatus which is very different from that of humans, making the vast majority of existing scripts, including the Engl

Oct 4, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Hangeul in the age of AI: survival of the fittest?

Early Joseon-era Buddhist scripture in Hangeul unveiled among Lee Kun-hee's donations

Pages of the 15th century manuscript “Seokbosangjeol” volumes 20 and 21 / Courtesy of NMKBy Park Han-solMarking Hangeul Day on Oct. 9, the National Museum of Korea (NMK) unveiled Thursday the original manuscript of the first Buddhist scripture printed in the Korean alphabet, Hangeul ― which belongs to the massive treasure trove of art donated by late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.Known as “Seokbosangjeol,” the document was published in 1447 late in the 1418-50 reign of King Sejong of Joseon, just one year after the release of "Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon," an iconic handbook of the Korean writing system.The Buddhist teachings were translated into Korean under guidance of Prince Suyang, who later became King Sejo (r. 1455-68), to commemorate his mother, Queen Soheon. A total of 24 volumes are believed to have been published, but only a few survive to this day. The two unveiled copies are volumes 20 and 21, printed with the first movable Hangeul metal type blocks.Unlike other Buddhist scriptures translated later, whose main texts remain in Chinese characters w

Oct 1, 2021By Park Han-sol

Early Joseon-era Buddhist scripture in Hangeul unveiled among Lee Kun-hee's donations

Seoul Int'l Writers' Festival to kick off next week

An official poster for the 10th Seoul International Writers' Festival / Courtesy of SIWF By Park Han-solThe 10th Seoul International Writers' Festival, a global platform for fruitful literary exchanges between Korean and international authors and readers since its inception in 2006, will be held in a hybrid online-offline format starting next week.Under the theme of “Awakening,” 33 writers from 16 countries will participate in the event from Oct. 8 to 24 to discuss the role and future of literature after COVID-19 comes to an end, a period that will inevitably be marked by sweeping cultural changes worldwide.The 17-day festival ― jointly hosted by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, the Seoul Design Foundation and Incheon International Airport Corporation ― will hold lectures, writers' talks, film screenings, recitals and multilingual reading sessions of Korean literature.Discussions are expected to co

Sep 29, 2021By Park Han-sol

Seoul Int'l Writers' Festival to kick off next week

'Success breeds failure': liberal critic's advice for conservative party leader

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), speaks during a meeting with Korea experts in Washington D.C., Wednesday (local time). He will return to Korea next Monday after wrapping up a week-long visit to the United States. Courtesy of PPPIn his latest book, Kang Jun-man warns of the curse of success, analyzes the Korean public's sympathy toward Samsung's formerly jailed vice chairman By Kang Hyun-kyungKang Jun-man, a professor emeritus of Jeonbuk National University and a liberal political commentator, has advised conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) leader Lee Jun-seok to move on from being an irresponsible amateur politician to becoming a tolerant and mature politician. “The curse of success and how he can avoid it are what he has to prioritize if he wants to succeed in the political arena,” Kang said in his latest book, titled, “Historical Figures and Ideologies 2: Impertinent Lee Jun-seok.”According to the author, the “curse of success” refers to the fact that what was critical in making a person suc

Sep 24, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

'Success breeds failure': liberal critic's advice for conservative party leader

INTERVIEW Wisdom we learned from our seven years in US

gettyimagesbankIn a memoir, author says her family's American dream shattered but their years of struggles were worthwhile By Kang Hyun-kyungA 34-year-old author, who identifies herself only with her pen name Hae-gil, published a memoir this week about her and her parents' seven years of living as legal aliens in the United States, defining the nature of their life in the foreign land as a total failure. In the book, “Back Then, We Shouldn't Have Gone to the US,” released by Daejeon-based small independent publisher txt.kcal, she narrates about her family's shattered American dream, and the wisdom she gained from the years of struggle and harsh living as a second-class citizen. One of the toughest challenges she and her parents had faced was downward social mobility, she said. In Korea, her family was upper-middle class, thanks to her hard-working parents who made a considerable fortune through their business. Her financially stable parents had a nice apartment as well as property in Seoul, enabling their only child Hae-gil to lead an impeccably satisfying life as a film

Sep 16, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

[INTERVIEW] Wisdom we learned from our seven years in US

'Black Flower,' novel about early Korean plantation workers, published in Mexico

A photo taken after the arrival of Mexico's first generation of Korean immigrants, who worked in the plantations of the Yucatan Peninsula, May 12, 1905 / Yonhap Kim Young-ha's 'Black Flower' portrays rugged lives of the first generation of Koreans in Mexico By Park Han-sol The cover of “Flor Negra (Black Flower)” (2021), written by Kim Young-ha and translated by Ko Hye-sun and Francisco Carranza Romero / Courtesy of Panorama Editorial In April 1905, just five years before Korea fell under Japanese colonial occupation, 1,033 people from all ages and walks of life flocked to Jemulpo Harbor in present-day Incheon to climb aboard a ship en route to the land of new hopes and possibilities, called Mexico.But the feeling of excitement quickly turned to misery as their trip led them to begin working under the grueling heat at the haciendas (plantations) of t

Sep 10, 2021By Park Han-sol

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