Newly arrived Swedish Ambassador Lars Danielsson hosted his first event as new president of the Seoul Literary Society, a group of expats, Koreans and diplomats who share the love of the written word.

This meeting honored Oh Jung-hee, one of Korea’s leading writers and one of the most accomplished authors of short fiction today.

Danielsson plans to continue the mandate from founder of SLS and former Swedish Ambassador Lars Vargo which was to share the beauty of the world’s cultures that are inscribed in books.

“It is extremely important for ambassadors here not only to try to convey our own culture and try to spread that in the country where we are posted, but also to make sure that we try to contribute to the trafficking towards the other direction,” said Danielsson.

Until the 1980s Korean literature was largely unknown outside of the peninsula but due to a strong push by the government and a curiosity from the outside world, more works are being translated.

“There is such a rich Korean culture, not just in literature and more and more is being translated through the efforts of the Korean government,” he said. “That’s a good start, but by having this society, it gives a forum for people both from the foreign community and from Korea who are interested in literature.”

The recent wave of interest in translated works of Korean literature has to do with the increased popularity of Korean films.

France, for example, has translated more Korean books than any other country to date but the demand in Japan and China for Korean literature is growing.

“The society gives us first hand impressions of the important writers. This gives us an impetus to try to interest editors in our own countries who publish books so it is an important task to try to give due recognition to a very rich culture,” said Danielsson.

During the gathering last week of the SLS, Oh spoke about her literary works and her life as a writer.

In 1979, Oh won the prestigious Yi Sang Literary Award for “Evening Game” and the 1982 Dongin Literature Prize for “The Bronze Mirror.” In 2003, she also won the German Liberaturpreis Award for her novel “Birds,” which was published in Germany.

Oh’s works include the short story collections “River of Fire” (1977), “The Garden of Childhood” (1981), “Spirit on the Wind” (1986), “The Old Well” (1994), and “Fireworks” (1996).

More recently, she published a collection of fables titled “Pig Dreams” in 2008.

Danielsson’s plans are the same as before, to promote writers from both Korea and outside the peninsula to share their stories.

“The society can be useful in a very small and humble format and still provide an opportunity to spread the word about culture, which is necessary,” he said.

By Yoav Cerralbo (yoav@heraldcorp.com)