Translation work of poet Lee Young-ju’s “Cold Candies” receives award

Kim Jae, the translator of Lee Young-ju’s “Cold Candies,” received an award from the American Literary Translators Association, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, which supported the translation, on Friday. Named after a poet and translator of Buddhist literature, the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize by the ALTA recognizes the importance of Asian translations for international literature and has been promoting the translation of Asian works into E

Oct. 9, 2022

Pulitzer-winning photojournalist captures beauty of Korean cultural heritage

A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist’s book on Korean culture and heritage is set to hit the shelves on Sept. 30. “Visual History of Korea” by Hyungwon Kang introduces 25 aspects of Korea’s cultural heritage. The 208-page book features photographs that capture the beauty of Korea’s unique culture and history through the lens of a visual storyteller, accompanied by writings in English and Korean. “A photo has the power to tell stories and communica

Sept. 23, 2022

'Moon bump': Former president helps books break bestseller lists

Former President Moon Jae-in’s latest book recommendation “Utmost and Personal Nepal” has shot up on the bestseller’s list, showing once again the former leader’s formidable influence on many people’s reading choices. “Utmost and Personal Nepal,” co-written by Sujan Shakya and Hong Sung-kwang, is the eighth book he has recommended since leaving the Blue House in May. “The greeting ‘Namaste’ means ‘The god in me respects the

Sept. 19, 2022

Leading writers to gather at Seoul International Writers’ Festival

Leading writers from around the world are convening at the Seoul International Writers’ Festival, scheduled to kick off Friday. A total of 35 writers -- including 12 from eight foreign countries -- will take part in this year’s festival, held under the theme of "Beyond Narrative." The eight-day festival will offer reading sessions as well as conversations between writers and literary critics, exploring the boundaries of genre and language with the readers. The festival will

Sept. 18, 2022

[Book Review] Econ. professor urges to assess happiness when measuring prosperity

In his book “Rich Economy, Poor Happiness," Lee Nae-chan, a professor of economics at Hansung University, explores the dark sides of South Korea’s prosperous economic development and sheds light on how to ultimately achieve happiness in a country that is no longer on a fast economic growth track. “Korea has grown remarkably in size, so far from the debris of the Korean War, but happiness and quality of life are ranked at the bottom among OECD (Organization for Economic Coo

Sept. 16, 2022

Korean book events to be held in 8 countries

Korean book events are scheduled to take place in eight countries, hosted by the Culture Ministry in collaboration with the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea and the Korean Cultural Centers overseas. Korean Cultural Centers in Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico, Argentina, Egypt, the United Kingdom, Poland and France plan to hold book exhibitions, seminars and talks with Korean authors and translators throughout the remainder of the year. Poland and Egypt are scheduled to host their K-book

Sept. 13, 2022

Korea's scientific and technological heritage in 30 volumes

A 30-volume “Science and Civilization in Korea” series encompassing the country's history and achievements in the fields of science and technology has been published in August. The series spans the pre-modern period to modern times -- 16 volumes on pre-modern and 14 on modern and contemporary times. The subjects range from specific topics, such as Hangeul, rice, religion and women, as well as major fields of science such as astronomy, engineering and mathematics. More than 60 scholar

Sept. 5, 2022

UK journalist asks: What is the Korea we refuse to see?

As individuals, we often see ourselves through the lens of others, giving careful consideration to how we are viewed. However, as a country of such individuals, we may not see or refuse to acknowledge the reality of our social and cultural dynamics until someone -- likely an outsider with an insider’s view -- points it out. A recent book by Raphael Rashid, a Seoul-based freelance journalist from the UK, does just that. In his book “The Korea We Refuse to See,” written in K

Aug. 29, 2022

‘Shrimp to Whale’: Well-told story of S. Korea’s rise to spotlight

From BTS to Squid Game, to its internationally heralded handling of COVID-19, South Korea is enjoying the spotlight on the global stage. Yet, books on Korea out there often feel stale and outdated. If not tunnel-visioned on the country’s economic success, South Korea is a nation heavily seen through the lens of geopolitics, or a country technically still at war. In his book “Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop,” Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of i

May 26, 2022

Seoul-based Australian academic wins N.S.W. Premier’s Literary Awards

  Dan Disney, a professor at Sogang University, has received the N.S.W. Premier’s Award for Poetry for his latest poem collection “accelerations & inertias.” Disney, who has lived in South Korea for 12 years, was given the Kenneth Slessor Award, which comes with a cash prize of 30,000 Australian dollars ($21,000). Published in 2021 by Vagabond Press, the collection “dissects the psychogeography of information, knowledge and lived experience of place and tim

May 19, 2022

[Book Review] Samsung ex-CEO recalls 'great' chip deal that built Apple empire in memoir

Apple’s ecosystem of a wide array of devices including the iPhone would have remained an elusive dream had Steve Jobs failed to address the memory glitches in iPods in the early 2000s. The idea of iPhone, iPad, iTV and MacBook Air scribbled on Jobs’ whiteboard in December 2004 struck Hwang Chang-gyu, the then-president of semiconductor business at Samsung Electronics, as he was on the verge of a handshake with Jobs in California to replace iPod’s hard disk drives with flash me

May 5, 2022

S. Korea to participate in this year's Bogota book fair as honorary guest

South Korea will take part as a guest of honor in the Bogota International Book Fair (FILBO) set to open in Colombia's capital this month to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, the South Korean culture ministry said Wednesday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said the country will hold various exhibitions, seminars as well as literary and cultural events under the theme of "togetherness, convivencia" at the fair. Launched in 1988, FILBO is

April 13, 2022

Korean novels published overseas win multiple prizes on global stage

The presence of Korean literature is growing widely in the world as local translations have won or been nominated for multiple prizes from literature awards outside of the country. An English translation of Chung Bora's "Cursed Bunny" published by British publisher Honford Star was chosen as one of the six finalists for this year's International Booker Prize announced Thursday. She became the second Korean author to make the shortlist after Han Kang, who achieved the feat in 2016 and 2

April 8, 2022

Korean books to watch for this spring

Park Sang-young's queer coming-of-age tale “Love in the Big City” (translated by Anton Hur) is one of two Korean novels longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. Together with Bora Chung’s ”Cursed Bunny,“ Park‘s debut novel and first book to be translated into English highlights the diversity of contemporary Korean literature. Chung’s short story collection tackles a variety of styles and concepts, from surreal horror and dark fairytales to sci

March 31, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘Cursed Bunny’ author Bora Chung on writing from the margins

Like her stories, Bora Chung radiates terse, fierce energy like an electrical cable cut open. On a Thursday morning exactly one week after “Cursed Bunny” -- her collection of 10 short stories translated by Anton Hur -- was announced among the works longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, Chung told The Korea Herald that she was still in shock. “Suddenly people are mentioning my name in the same sentence with Han Kang and Olga Tokarczuk, and I feel this is surreal

March 30, 2022

Published screenplays of hit TV series make bestselling book lists

Popular TV series have recently made their presence felt not only on the global viewership charts but also on local bestselling book lists. The script book of the romantic comedy "Our Beloved Summer," published on Feb. 16, placed second on the weekly bestsellers list for the third week of February by Kyobo Book Center, the biggest bookstore chain in South Korea. On the weekly sales list of Yes24, a local online bookstore, preorders of the series' screenplay book also ranked third in th

March 11, 2022

[Book Review] In ‘Future of Silence,’ Korean women’s voices resound across generations

We turn to literature to understand ourselves and others, across boundaries of time, space, and culture. When fictional characters reveal the whole, unvarnished truth of their lives, it can be a mirror to our own. Readers may experience such moments of recognition while reading “The Future of Silence: Fiction by Korean Women,” a collection of nine short stories spanning five decades from the 1970s to 2010s. In them, women find themselves in situations ranging from the Kafkaesque t

Feb. 24, 2022

2 Korean children's books win prizes at Bolgna Ragazzi Awards

Two South Korean children's books have won prizes at this year's Bologna Ragazzi Awards, one of the world's largest honors for kids' books and illustrations. "Summer," written and drawn by Suzy Lee, was listed as one of the three Special Mention works in the Fiction category, the organizers of the awards said Wednesday (Korean time) on its website. In the Non-Fiction section, "Father's big hands" by Choi Deok-kyu was also selected as a Special Mention piece. "Summer

Feb. 23, 2022

Book of late S. Korean poet Cho's poems published in English

A book of more than 80 poems of late renowned South Korean poet Cho Ji-hoon was published in English in New York more than half a century after his death, his family said Friday. A ceremony celebrating the publication took place in New York on the day with the attendance of South Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Cho Tae-yul, the third son of the poet, and his other family members.The publishing company, Cross-Cultural Communications, published the book, entitled "Shedding of the Pet

Sept. 21, 2019

New young adult English novel to recount devastation of Japanese wartime sexual slavery

A young adult novel on Japan's wartime sexual slavery, which was recently translated into English, will hit the shelves in the United States and other countries this year to recount the devastation of the Japanese wartime atrocity, according to its publisher Thursday.The 248-page novel, "Trampled Blossoms: What They Stole from Grandma," written by Moon Young-sook and translated by David Carruth, will go on sale at the US online bookseller Amazon and through other global circulation cha

Aug. 22, 2019