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| Novelists Bora Chung, left, and Yun Ko-eun / Courtesy of Arzak, Hyundae Munhak |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
With new works from genre-fiction authors Kim Un-su, Chung Bora and Yun Ko-eun, the year 2023 looks exciting for Korean literature. Kim will release his new novel "Big Eye" this year, completing his so-called "repugnance" trilogy of novels following "The Plotters" (2010) and "Hot Blooded" (2016).
Set in the early 20th century, the upcoming novel is about deep-sea fishing workers. To write this book, Kim was aboard a deep-sea fishing vessel that operated in the Pacific Ocean for over six months from December 2017 to June 2018.
Fantastical crime novel "The Plotters" has been translated into several languages and published in dozens of countries, including the U.S., France, Australia and Russia. In 2016, the book was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere ― the most prestigious award for crime and detective fiction in France. "Hot Blooded," about a third-rate gangster who unwittingly becomes involved in a gang war, was adapted into a film in 2022.
Chung, who was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize with her short story collection "Cursed Bunny," will unveil her fourth novel, yet untitled. The esteemed author, whose works blur the lines between fantasy, horror and science fiction, is also looking to write a series about marine biology.
Yun, the first Korean author to win the Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger Award from the United Kingdom's Crime Writers' Association with "The Disaster Tourist," will release a new novel in June. The book, seemingly integrating thriller, mystery and crime genres, centers on an artist who has bizarre experiences.
Yun Heung-gil, novelist known for depicting social conflicts in Korea, will finish up his epic novel "Tattoo" by releasing Part 4 and Part 5 this year. He won the Park Kyung-ni Literary Prize in 2020.
Kim Hye-soon, one of the most influential contemporary poets in Korea, will unveil a book that features her interviewing another poet Hwang In-chan. In 2019, Kim made headlines as the first Asian woman to be named the winner of the International Griffin Poetry Prize with "Autobiography of Death," which was translated into English in 2018. In 2021, she was named the winner of the Cikada Prize, a prestigious Swedish literary award that recognizes East Asian poets.
As for international novels, three additional books by Annie Ernaux will greet Korean readers. They are Ernaux's 2008 "Impersonal Autobiography," "Things Seen," a diary consisting of observations and impressions from the period 1993 to 1999, and "Journals of the Outside" (1985-1992).
Another French novelist Bernard Werber's Korean edition of new novel "The Bee Prophecy," about a Templar prophecy related to bees, will hit shelves this year. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Korean translation of his book "Empire of Ants."
Korean American author Helena Rho's "American Seoul: A Memoir," which depicts the diasporic vertigo, will be translated into Korean. Last year, Korean American novelist Min Jin Lee's "Pachinko," a story about four-generation ethnic Koreans living in Japan, became the best-selling book in Korea about four years after its release in the country.
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