The JoongAng Daily reports that, “Korea has been invited to the 2016 Paris Book Fair as a distinguished guest and will participate in the event which will be held from Thursday to Sunday in Paris.” The JoongAng notes that, “60 books from 30 Korean writers will be displayed, including those of Hwang Sok-young, Han Kang, Jeong Yu-jeong, Kim Young-ha and many others.” That is pretty much a murderer’s row of Korean modern authors. And if you can read French^^ you can see evidence of that here on the Hwang Sok-yong page on the French schedule.

Kim Young-ha, who is bilingual in English and Korean, and for all I know French^^, will present on the revival of Korean literature in a seminar on Friday

The JoongAng article is titled Paris Book Fair to feature literature from Korea. And it covers the Korean involvement concisely and comprehensively.  10,000 Korean books will be on display, and authors will recite their works and take place in discussions on important topics including literature in general and the effects of globalization on it.

“The book fair will be a stepping stone for Korean literature to enter into Europe,” said Yoon Tae-yong from the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

“I hope that the fair will enhance cultural understanding and interaction between Korea and France.”

According to Yonhap News (via the Korea Herald), “The Paris Book Fair is considered one of the biggest publishing trade fair in Europe. More than 250,000 publishers, booksellers, authors, literary agents, librarians and media and industry suppliers attended the fair last year,”

One of the truly wonderful things about this fair is that books are actually sold there, so any translations in French, should be available for purchase. THAT, is how you popularise a literature, you get people to buy it.^^

Good job to all involved!