Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year
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[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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Famed publisher opens Paris’ first on-demand only bookshop
PARIS (AP) -- To many Parisians, the letters PUF have always been associated with the intellectual heart of the French capital. So when the 95-year-old venerable publishing house specializing in human and social sciences was forced to close its historic bookstore on the Place de La Sorbonne in 1999, it left a big void in the heart of many students and researchers. But Les Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) is back in town, just a stone’s throw from their previous location in the Quartier Lat
March 21, 2016
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Universality and marketability matter for Korean books to work in foreign market: agent
Good quality translation on top of universal appeal are the requisite elements needed for a Korean book to succeed overseas, said a Korean book agent on Thursday."Quantity doesn't really matter. The bottom line is it should be in good quality to help a foreign reader's understanding of Korean literature," said Im Young-hee at French publishing company Philippe Picquer, in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on the sideline of the Paris Book Fair. South Korea is the guest of honor to mark the 13
March 18, 2016
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[Herald Interview] Defining and redefining Sohn Jie-ae
Sohn Jie-ae, who has spent 30 years in the English-language media, has written a memoir chronicling her journey. Published last month, “Sohn Jie-ae. CNN. Seoul” resembles its writer: It is ambitious and expansive, touching on everything from career advice to journalism, government work, North Korea, feminism and family life. “So many people seem to think to themselves, ‘This is it for me. This is the end of my capacity,’” Sohn told The Korea Herald in an interview in Seoul on Tuesday. “I hope
March 17, 2016
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Sales of Han Kang's novel soar after Man Booker nomination
Sales of "The Vegetarian," a novel by South Korean author Han Kang, have soared since it was nominated for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, an online bookseller said Wednesday.According to the Internet-based bookstore Aladin, the book was sold 12 times more from Thursday to Tuesday compared to a month ago. The prize's organizer announced on its website on Thursday that Han's "Vegetarian," translated by Deborah Smith, was among the 13 books contending for the 2016 prize. She has become th
March 17, 2016
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2016 Paris book fair opens with Korea as guest of honor
PARIS (Yonhap) -- An international book fair kicked off in Paris on Wednesday, highlighting Korean books and authors. Launched in 1981, the Paris Book Fair is considered one of the biggest publishing trade fairs in Europe. More than 250,000 publishers, booksellers, authors, literary agents, librarians, and media and industry suppliers attended the fair last year. Korea is taking part in the event as the guest of honor for the first time as it celebrates the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties
March 17, 2016
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‘Holy grail’ set of Shakespeare folios for sale
LONDON (AP) -- William Shakespeare died 400 years ago, but his stock has never been higher. To coincide with the anniversary of the Bard’s death, Christie’s is selling copies of the first four editions of his plays -- a collection the auctioneer’s head of books, Margaret Ford, calls “the holy grail of publishing.” The four folios are going on display in New York April 1-8 and London April 20-28 before being sold in London on May 25. A Christie`s staff displays an unrecorded copy of the First Fo
March 17, 2016
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Fans use Lovecraft‘s fame to promote Providence’s weird side
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Fans of H.P. Lovecraft's writings are trying to use the growing fame of the early 20th century fantasy-horror writer to promote Providence’s weird side. Lovecraft so identified with Rhode Island's capital city that he wrote "I am Providence" in a letter. His headstone bears the phrase. Some of Lovecraft’s best-known works are set in Providence. Tuesday marked the 79th anniversary of his death. A light rain fell as about 20 people gathered where Lovecraft's childhood hou
March 17, 2016
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Hot-button issues in suspenseful ‘Off the Grid’
Best-seller C.J. Box’s series about Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is known for showing how environmental issues not only affect ecology, but also people, jobs and lifestyles. In “Off the Grid,” Box goes a bit off the grid himself by tackling the hot-button issue of terrorists and government interference, delivering an even-handed look that illustrates the perception of a situation isn't always reality. “Off the Grid” isn't so much Joe’s story as it is his friend's Nate Romanowski, a war ve
March 17, 2016
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Rise of the unmarried American woman
“All The Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation” By Rebecca Traister Simon and Schuster (339 pages, $27)Employing the tools of social history and narrative journalism, “All The Single Ladies” paints an upbeat portrait of the unmarried life, concluding with a call for policy changes to support “the epoch of single women that's upon us.” Rebecca Traister traces the trend of happy singlehood back through American history to its pre-Colonial roots in England. In 1563,
March 17, 2016
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What America taught Hitler about eugenics
Writing in 1927 for an 8-1 Supreme Court majority in Buck vs. Bell, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes upheld a Virginia law authorizing sterilization of the “feebleminded.” In “Imbeciles,” Adam Cohen outlines the collision course between Carrie Buck -- a woman who was poor and unfortunate but no imbecile -- and a scion of one of Boston’s oldest families who was wrongly reputed to be liberal. Cohen's chapters on Holmes make clear that Buck was no anomaly; Holmes was a longtime eugenicist who’d previ
March 17, 2016
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Surviving Shakespeare script urges empathy for foreigners
LONDON (AFP) - The only surviving play script including William Shakespeare's handwriting, and containing a passionate speech against xenophobia, is being put online to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death, the British Library announced Tuesday. The script is a section from a controversial play that revolves around how statesman Sir Thomas More quelled a 1517 anti-foreigner uprising in London by asking the rioters to imagine themselves being banished to live abroad. The 164-line scene
March 16, 2016
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First edition of Hwang Sok-yong's new essay sold out
Veteran South Korean novelist Hwang Sok-yong's new essay is off to a good start, its publisher said Monday.Five-thousand copies of the first edition of the essay, roughly translated as "Hwang Sok-yong's Rice Thief" went out of stock, Gyoyu Books said.Released on March 2, the book is already on its third edition and firmly remains on the bestseller lists at the country's major bookstores.The novelist said he would donate all of the royalties from the first batch of book sales to relief organizati
March 14, 2016
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Han Kang on list for Man Booker International Prize
Novelist Han Kang, 46, has become the first Korean writer to be on the long list for the Man Booker International Prize. The prestigious award body announced Thursday on its website 13 contenders for the 2016 prize, including Han’s 2004 novel “The Vegetarian,” translated by Deborah Smith. “The Vegetarian” was published in the U.K. in January 2015 and in the U.S. last month to both critical and popular acclaim. Novelist Han Kang (Literature Translation Institute of Korea) Nobel laureate Orhan
March 10, 2016
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Writer Han Kang is longlisted for 2016 Man Booker Int'l Prize
South Korean fiction writer Han Kang has been nominated for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, the first time for a Korean novelist.According to the announcement on the organizer's website Thursday, Han Kang's "The Vegetarian," translated by Deborah Smith, is among the 13 books contending for the 2016 prize.The longlisted candidates, picked from 155 authors from 12 countries, were selected by a panel of five judges who are renowned journalists and novelists. The annual contemporary fiction
March 10, 2016
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Milwaukeeans‘ struggle to find affordable housing
“Evicted” By Matthew Desmond Crown (432 pages, $28) For nearly a decade, Matthew Desmond has studied the relationship between eviction and poverty in a single American city: Milwaukee. The MacArthur Foundation awarded him a “genius” grant last year for his research, including the Milwaukee Area Renters Study he designed and supervised, which yielded this sobering conclusion: “Among Milwaukee renters, over 1 in 5 black women report having been evicted in their adult life, compared to 1 in 12 Hisp
March 10, 2016
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Sarah Bakewell on Sartre, de Beauvoir and existential philosophy
“At the Existentialist Cafe” By Sarah Bakewell Other Press (439 pages, $25) Here’s a startling thought. Consider what you are doing right now without realizing you’re doing it. For example, you are reading the English language written in the Roman alphabet, even though thousands of languages and writing systems have existed, and you would just as easily use one of them instead if you had been born in a different time or place. You are probably flipping pages of a newspaper or clicking through a
March 10, 2016
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Pulling back the curtain on Paul Kagame’s Rwanda
“Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship” By Anjan Sundaram Doubleday Books (208 pages, $25.95)In the early 1990s, the world watched in horror as Hutus and Tutsis slaughtered each other in Rwanda. When it ended, Paul Kagame was heralded as one of the leaders of forces that ended the bloodshed. As president since 2000, President Kagame has fooled much of the world into thinking his country is a happy democracy and has received tons of international funding because on the surface Rwanda shine
March 10, 2016
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Publishing’s lack of diversity fails readers: author Rai
HONG KONG (AFP) -- As the film and music industries grapple with the fallout from the race controversy that dogged the Oscars and the Brit Awards, English author Bali Rai warns publishing too has a serious diversity issue. The award-winning writer, who has Indian heritage but was born and grew up in Leicester, England, echoes critics of Hollywood and the Academy Awards when he suggests gatekeepers are only recognizing a narrow band of talent and ideas, which does not properly reflect society. He
March 10, 2016
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Korean works, writers to be featured at Paris Book Fair
Korea will be spotlighted as the guest of honor at the Paris Book Fair, to be held March 16-20 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versaille exhibition center, where a selection of Korean works will be displayed and some of the country’s most influential writers will be holding talks, the Korean Publishers Association said in a statement Wednesday. Some 60 works by 30 Korean authors will be featured, including the esteemed Hwang Sok-yong, who wrote the novel “Evening Star,” and Han Kang, whose novel “Th
March 10, 2016
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‘Renegade’ rule mom Heather Shumaker is back with new book
NEW YORK (AP) -- Homework? Ban it! Circle time? It’s not for every kindergartner. Forced sharing? How about letting a kid play with a toy until she’s done? Those are just a few of the ideas that Heather Shumaker advocates as “renegade” in a new book, “It’s OK to Go Up the Slide,” an extension of her first parenting guide, “It’s OK Not to Share.” Shumaker is the mom of two boys, ages 11 and 8, in Traverse City, Michigan. As a youngster, she was a student where her mother taught for 40 years in Co
March 10, 2016