Literary forums featuring modern Korean literature will be held in Spain and France, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea).

The upcoming events in Europe follow LTI Korea’s two-day session forum held in the U.S. last week.

The state-run organization kicked off its literary tour on Friday, holding its first sessions in Washington, D.C. Poet Oh Se-young and novelists Oh Jung-hee and Lee Hye-kyung attended the event, which was held at the Korean Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. The writers met readers in the U.S. and talked about their books and modern Korean literature.

On Saturday, the three authors, along with U.S.-based scholars of Korean literature, attended a special forum titled “Generations: A Century of Korean Literature.” LTI Korea said it also talked with University of Hawaii Press about publishing a new anthology of modern Korean literature. They also spoke with the State University of New York about establishing courses in Korean studies and literature.

The forum in Spain will be held on Oct. 16 at the Korean Cultural Center in Madrid. The forum will celebrate the newly published Spanish-language editions of Korean classics, including Kim Man-jung’s 1687 novel “Guunmong” and “Hanjugrok,” a memoir of crown princess Hong of Hyegyeonggung (1735-1815), mother of King Jeongjo.

Renowned Spanish poet Antonio Colinas is scheduled to recite the Spanish-translated version of Korea’s classic poems.

LTI Korea’s France forum takes place on Oct. 30 in a number of bookstores and libraries in Aix-en Province and Lyon. Three young Korean writers, Kim Ae-ran, Pyeon Hye-young and Kim Jung-hyuk, will each have a book-reading session during the event. All three writers’ works have previously been published in French.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)