Seoul International Book Fair 2021, the oldest and largest book publishing trade festival in South Korea, successfully ended its five-day-run Sunday afternoon. Hosted by the Korean Publishers Association, the festival kicked off Sept. 5 at S Factory in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, an area filled with brunch cafes and small ateliers of independent artists that is widely known as a gathering place for people in their 20s and 30s. The fair was held online last year. This year it operated under strict pa

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Many conservative policymakers and parents in China and South Korea beg to differ: All study and no game playing makes their kids smart boys and girls. Since 2011, Korea has maintained a sort of nightly gaming curfew for youngsters under the “shutdown law.” Amid long-running disputes, the government announced last week it would abolish the regulation. China, meanwhile, stepped up its crackdown on gaming, banning children under the age of

When news spread that Bulgwang Bookstore, a local bookstore located in Eunpyeong-gu, northwestern Seoul, will be closing next month due to financial struggles, local residents in the neighborhood immediately filed a petition at the local district office to seek help. Bulgwang Bookstore, a modest bookstore which opened in 1996, is only a block away from Bulgwang Station exit no. 8. At the time of its opening, libraries or bookstores did not exist around the area, which naturally turned the book

Two books of Korean poetry have recently been published in the US, one by a veteran poet and another by an emerging young talent. The Daesan Foundation announced Monday the publication of “Monarch Butterfly,” with selected poems by poet and literary critic Choi Dong-ho, and “Catcalling,” another collection by Lee Soho, in English by Mudus Artium Press and OpenLetterBooks, respectively. “Monarch Butterfly” is a selection of 51 of Choi’s poems from his 5

Arirang is a Korean folk song cherished as the song of “han,” a mix of emotions similar to grief and resentment flowing through the hearts of Koreans. While Arirang is recognized today as a song that represents Korea, less is known of the Koreans who migrated overseas in modern times. “Arirang Peoples’ Diaspora” by author Hye-ok (the Korean-language edition of the book notes her name as Lee Hye-ok, following the Korean custom of women keeping their family name even

In 2015, two bookworms from the US working as English language instructors in Korea, opened Itaewon Book Club in Seoul, hoping it would be a space to share their thoughts on their latest reads. Six years on, the book club is still going strong, with some 1,800 people from all over the world having trickled in and out over the years. As the book club’s name says, the usual gathering spot before the pandemic had been at one of the well-known pubs in Itaewon, central Seoul. However, the str

The Daesan Foundation will spend 180 million won ($156,385) to support translations of Korean literature, the foundation announced Monday. A total of 13 literary works, 11 novels and two poems, were chosen from 72 applications for this year’s “Korean Literature Translation, Research, and Publishing Support” program. The selected works will be translated into seven different languages: English, French, Japanese, Chinese, German, Spanish and Vietnamese. Works by well-known

From plastic surgery, K-pop fandom to chaebol marriage and women at work. Frances Cha’s debut novel “If I Had Your Face” runs the gamut of hot topics in modern Korean society. The journalist-turned-novelist, who worked as travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul, doesn’t only lightly touch on the subjects, she dives into each topic through the story of young women characters living in the same apartment in Seoul. Although Cha does not believe that doing thorough rese

Veteran translator puts out a collection of essays on the difficulty of writing easy-to-understand texts

First Asian to win prestigious crime fiction prize talks about working closely with translator Lizzie Buehler, difficulties of packaging book for global audience

Novelist Yun Ko-eun become the first Asian to win a prestigious CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger on Thursday. The Dagger awards, conferred by the Crime Writers’ Association in the United Kingdom, recognize excellence in the art of crime writing. This year’s winners were announced during an online event hosted by the winners from last year. Yun was the first Asian winner since the association established a separate award in 2006 to recognize both the translator of a work an

“Grace That Cannot Be Repaid” By John Philip Song Nachimban Pastor John Philip Song has written a memoir titled “Grace That Cannot Be Repaid.” “It was the year when I turned 77. My friends all know about the hardships that I went through. Since I survived through them, they said it would be a good idea for me to write a book about it,” Song said during an interview with The Korea Herald. “They convinced me that it can give courage to people in a tou

Exhibition of photos, poems written from conflict regions show writer Park No-hae’s love for humanity

Creators of ‘Batman: Moonin’ talk about their work process, introducing Korean elements that people around the world can relate to, including Korean readers

The National Library of Korea received more than 1,000 books on Tuesday and will send them to major libraries around the world through its International Materials Exchange Program. The library signed an agreement in 2016 with the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, the publisher of the books, to carry out and expand overseas research on Korea while promoting Korean cultural assets overseas. The National Library of Korea plans to send books donated by the foundation to 35 libraries th