A sweeping literary celebration, bringing together the Seoul International Writers’ Festival, Literature Week and the National Museum of Korean Literature's special exhibition, will unfold this fall.
The Culture Ministry announced that, together with the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, Arts Council Korea, the National Museum of Korean Literature and the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, it will host the inaugural Korean Literature Festival from Friday to Sept. 25. Events will take place in Daehangno — a Seoul neighborhood known for its small theaters — as well as in cities nationwide.
The new festival comes on the heels of Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in literature, aiming to build on the heightened domestic and international attention to Korean literature a year after her win.
The ministry hopes the festival will serve as an umbrella for some of the country’s major literary gatherings, including the 14th Seoul International Writers’ Festival and the 10th annual Literature Week. Around the country, regional literary museums, writers-in-residence, independent bookstores and libraries will also mount programs for local audiences.
Seoul International Writers' Festival opens this weekend
The SIWF will open Friday at Ground Seoul in Insa-dong with a conversation between Yan Lianke and Hyun Ki-young. Yan is an acclaimed Chinese novelist and Franz Kafka Prize laureate who has twice been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Hyun, a Jeju-born Korean author, has brought attention to the tragedy of the island’s April 3 Uprising with works including the novella "Aunt Suni" and the three-volume epic "Oh, Jejudo."
Ten international authors from eight countries and 19 Korean writers are slated to participate. This year’s theme, “( ) Meets the Eye,” was chosen to explore the essence of things in an era awash with information and fierce competition for attention.
Other notable pairings include Lee Suzy, the first Korean recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration in 2022, with French picture-book artist Adrien Parlange; and Swedish novelist Jonas Hassen Khemiri with Korean American author Juhea Kim, whose debut "Beasts of a Little Land" was an international bestseller.
Reimagining literature through dialogue and performance
On Saturday, writer Park Chun-hue, co-creator of the six-time Tony Award–winning musical "Maybe Happy Ending," will sit down with poet Kim Hyun in Daehangno’s Artists’ House.
On Sept. 19, internationally acclaimed poet Kim Hye-soon will present a full-length performance reading of her latest collection, "Synchronized Sea Anemones," at Daehangno Arts Theater.
Other programs will reinterpret literature through theater and performance: a stage adaptation of Baek Onyu’s novel "Yuwon," a dramatized reading of Ki Hyong-do’s "A Black Leaf in the Mouth" in a production titled "Ki Hyong-do Play," and collaborative performances pairing playwrights with poets.
Regional literary museums, libraries join nationwide
Nine regional literary museums — including the Kim You Jeong House of Literature in Chuncheon, the Shin Dong-yeop Museum in Buyeo and the Yosan Literary Museum for Kim Jeong-han in Busan — will present reinterpretations of canonical works through theater, webtoons and media art.
The National Museum of Korean Literature, scheduled to officially open in 2027, emphasized that the festival strengthens its role as a central hub by collaborating with regional institutions.
“We hope this festival will inspire regional literary museums to rediscover and preserve Korea’s literary heritage while broadening its artistic horizons,” said poet Moon Chung-hee, director of the museum, during a meeting with reporters Wednesday.
“As the country’s central institution, we aim to enhance cooperation with local museums and expand opportunities for communities to engage with literature.”
hwangdh@heraldcorp.com
![[Exclusive] Ateez to return in November](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/02/news-p.v1.20260902.76162fb0ba55493aad1c076f240d0750_R.jpg?type=h&h=120)