Two interesting, and of course inter-related as Zitwer and Shin are professionally connected, interviews from Publishing Perspectives.

The first is Agent Barbara J. Zitwer on Bringing Korean Literature World in which Zitwer talks (about other things) about the importance of knowing the “bridge” person in the source language who knows literature there, but is also aware of the different expectations of the target language (i.e. that “bridge person is NOT some 아저씨 sitting in a high-rise in Gangnam or a publishing house in Paju). The money quote:

I look for local agents and literary experts in distant foreign lands who can help me find the best and interesting authors and who can find translators and help me communicate with people who don’t speak my language. The best and most necessary thing to do is have a literary expert and good friend in a foreign country who understands the native language and also understands what is marketable in the West and someone who can be a liaison.  This is very key to a long term relationship with writers in a country where you don’t speak the language

But there’s much more to it than that as she speaks to Korean literature particularly, what the e-world is doing to publishing. A lot of punch in a short interview.

The second piece is Korean Author Kyung-sook Shin On Literature and Geopolitics an very nuanced interview on North Korean and/or South Korean politics and literature. Shin reveals a side of herself that has not yet well been revealed in her translations in English. Perhaps she doesn’t address them in her fiction? But the article is quite interesting.

Her money quote is:

I feel that before we grow more apart, we should reunify. Korea is known to be the only divided country in the world, and this is not something we’re proud of. So I believe we should escape from that title, get rid of the title, and the method is to keep talking, keep communicating with the North. I believe we should continue having our dialogues and once we do we will come to a result. I believe that we really shouldn’t go back to the Cold War days when we did not talk to each other.

But the rest of the article is loaded with trenchancy about the split that make it (the article^^) very much worth reading.