International Booker Prize-winning author Han Kang speaks about her “I Do Not Bid Farewell," a novel that clinched this year's Prix Medicis for foreign literature in France, during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
From a novel depicting Jeju Island’s 1948 massacres to a gripping horror thriller webtoon, a string of translated Korean literary works continued to garner global recognition this year, securing wins and nominations for reputable prize-giving organizations.
International Booker Prize-winning author Han Kang made headlines earlier this month after her “I Do Not Bid Farewell” clinched the Prix Medicis for foreign literature, marking the first time a Korean piece has received the esteemed French award.
Jointly translated by Choi Kyung-ran and Pierre Bisiou, the novel examines, through the perspectives of three women, the tragic Jeju April 3 Uprising, where around 30,000 civilian demonstrators – nearly 10 percent of the island’s population at the time – were purged in an anti-communist military campaign.
Published in French and Chinese this year, the book is set to be released in four more languages in the coming months: English, Dutch, Polish and Norwegian.
Chung Bora’s genre-defying short story collection, “Cursed Bunny,” translated into English by Anton Hur, was shortlisted for the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature, standing as the sole Asian work among the five finalists.
Another notable literary achievement was made by film director and novelist Cheon Myeong-kwan when his book, “Whale,” translated by Kim Chi-young, made it onto the shortlist of six titles for the International Booker Prize. The book, rich in farce, fable-like elements and surprising turns, has been described by the U.K. award organizers as “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.”
The covers of Cheon Myeong-kwan's “Whale," left, and Chung Bora's "Cursed Bunny" / Courtesy of Europa Editions, Algonquin Books
In Russia, the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award longlisted two Korean pieces – Kim Ae-ran’s “Summer Outside” and Jeong Yi-hyun’s “Sweet Violence” – in its Foreign Literature category.
Other significant recognitions of 2023 include the nominations of Park Sang-young’s queer coming-of-age novel, “Love in the Big City,” for the Dublin Literary Award in Ireland, and Man Asian Literary Prize-winning Shin Kyung-sook’s “Violets” for the U.S. National Book Critics Circle Awards. Both stories were brought to life in English by Hur.
“The Hellbound Volume 1-2,” penned by Yeon Sang-ho and illustrated by Choi Gyu-seok, was nominated for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in the category of Best U.S. Edition of International Material. The horror webtoon series, translated by Danny Lim, was adapted into a 2021 Netflix series of the same name.
The notably growing presence of Korean literature in the global award scene appears to be closely tied to the recent uptick in the translation and publication of the country’s works abroad, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea).
The organization pointed out that the number of applications for its translation and publication grants for overseas publishers in 2023 reached 281, a more than 20-fold increase since the program’s inception in 2014. It also vowed to further tailor its support policies, considering the unique characteristics of local readership in each country, such as genre preferences.
“Since Han Kang became the first Asian author to nab the International Booker Prize in 2016, Korean literature and writers have continued to gain global recognition at an increasing level,” LTI Korea said in a statement.
“The outstanding talents of authors and translators, coupled with the fine balance of universal sensibilities and cultural individuality present in the country’s literary works, have led to this remarkable achievement.”
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