They said Korean literature could not be reduced to 60 minutes (particularly with my suspect history and cultural analysis included). And they were likely correct.^^ A presentation likely full of hideous errors, monstrous miscalculations, and bad analysis (that’s what my comments section is for). But a brief presentation I gave at Yonsei last week. Eventually, I’ll…
If you live in Seoul, the easy way to do this is to just deal with Seoul Selection. (Apparently this advice needs to be give to Australians as well, as Amazon will not ship there?) If live outside Seoul you might want to try G-market or, if you only speak English Amazon, which is kind…
(NOTE: You can also follow KTLIT on Twitter @ktlit) More stuff just found on the web. The first is Bae Su-ah’s appearance at PEN, an annual literary festival underway in New York, where, among other things she will discuss her recently translated work. In the past Hwang Sok-yong and Kim Young-ha, participated in 2009 and 2011, respectively,…
(NOTE: You can also follow KTLIT on Twitter @ktlit) TONGUE by Jo Kyung Ran (the author’s preferred Romanization), begins with a broken relationship; a 7 years’ relationship ends and the narrator loses her connection to food, up to and including her sense of taste. Unusually, however, for Korean fiction, it does not have any scenes in…
(Usual note, I can be followed on Twitter at this here address: https://twitter.com/KTLit) Dear Yonsei Students, (LOL.. for regular readers, I gave a one-hour presentation to Yonsei students this evening, and it may not fit the normal context of posts here. But tonight I gave a one hour lecture on the history of Korean literature, from…
(NOTE: You can also follow KTLIT on Twitter @ktlit) Kyung-sook Shin spoke to a full house for over an hour on Saturday at Haechi Hall in Myeongdong (a Q&A) session followed, which should go up tomorrow) as part of the 10 Magazine Book Club Lecture Series. Shin talked about her previous works, particularly Please Look After…
If, yesterday, you weren’t at Haechi Hall watching Kyung-Sook Shin get interviewed you need to take a long hungover look at yourself in the mirror today and ask if you made the right decision. Because this might have missed the best 10 Magazine/Seoul ABC book club yet. Shin talked about her previous works, particularly Please Look…
This seems publishable enough to me, and is out of Korean copyright protection (SUBSECTION 3. DURATION OF AUTHOR’S PROPERTY RIGHTS)? Both Young-ji Kang (the translator here, who has given me permission to post this) and I hope this is a case for some kind of crowd-funding to get the job finished? Or a lovely grant. Lee Hye-Seok (Webpage…
First of all, Akeldama by Park Sang-ryooong is a must buy for it’s provocative style and theme. Second of all, it was an amusing message to me about how smart I thought I was about translated Korean literature, and how fleeting such feelings can be. Every once in a while you think you have Korean literature…
There may be a real order to which Korean literature should be read, and although I’m sure I’m not clever enough to map it out, re-reading The Man Who Was Left as Nine Pairs of Shoes (아홉 켤레의 구두로 남은 사내), reminds me that it might exist, because the first time I read this story…