A small article from Koreanet detailing some of Korea’s international efforts to spread its literature.  In this case in Abu Dhabi and Bologna. Interesting to note that the pictures of these presentations reveals that the booths seem to primarily have their text in English! The Bologna event is a fair for children’s literature, which is, I think, a good way to get the literature out, since children’s lit is both strongly cultural and relatively simple to translate.

In Abu Dhabi, the article reports:

Korea was invited to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair as this year’s “Market Focus” country, and will have a special booth entitled, “Korean Collective Stand.” The fair, which wrapped up March 20 after six-day run, brought together international readers, as well as experts in the field and trade visitors. Market Focus, aimed at providing insight on industry trends to exhibitors, traders and inquisitive professionals, is an instrumental program for extending networks in the Middle East and North African region.

In Bologna:

The Korean Publishers Association is currently participating in the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, from March 28 to 31, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. This year’s fair has been very encouraging for Korean publications. For the first time, a Korean author won grand prize at the Bologna Ragazzi Award for non-fiction. Kim Hee-Kyung’s “A House of the Mind: Maum” was highly praised and Gang Gyeong-su’s “The Stories Shouldn’t be True” also earned mention in the same category. In addition, five Korean artists were acknowledged for their work as illustrator.

Related, from the same website, is a longer article on the news that Korean author Kim Hee-Kyung’s children’s book, “A House of the Mind: Maum” recently won the Bologna Ragazzi Award for non-fiction.