Kim Cho-yeop, who won the Best Writer Award at the Galaxy Awards, China’s science fiction literary award, with his novel collection If We Can’t Go at the Speed of Light, proved that he is loved by readers all over the world, and his first novel, The Greenhouse at the End of the Earth, showed the … [Read More]
Booklist: Korean literature in translation
Korean literature in English translation – both single-author titles and anthologies, prose and poetry. Sorted in order of publication (in their translated version), with the ones expected in the far-distant future listed first, descending to the earliest historic publications at the end of the listing.
Juniper Tree [forthcoming]
“My mother, who tried to kill me, now wants to kill my son.” The grand prize winner of the 12th Kyobo Paperback Story Contest, Kim Hae-sol’s Juniper has been published by the comprehensive publishing brand ‘Bukda’. This is the first full-length novel by an author who is active in various fields such as movies, dramas, … [Read More]
Bonobo [forthcoming]
Jin-yi devotes her life to the study of primates. One evening, she helps rescue a bonobo who has escaped from a burning villa. While holding her on her lap in the car taking them back to the Primate Study Center, an accident throws her through the windshield and a strange fusion takes place: while her … [Read More]
If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light
What makes us struggle to live in a world full of hatred, discrimination and contradictions? Kim Cho-yeop, a science student who makes biosensors, is now a writer who writes novels. Depicting an imaginary world that seems to exist somewhere but nowhere with a unique atmosphere, her first collection of novels, If We Can’t Go at … [Read More]
Simple Heart
In this moving exploration of dual identities reminiscent of Past Lives, a Korean writer’s pregnancy raises questions about her own childhood abandonment. Nana, a Korean playwright, was adopted as a child by a French couple. Before she was Nana, she was Esther Pak, a girl growing up in a Korean orphanage. And before she was Esther … [Read More]
The Bird that Drinks Tears
The Bird that Drinks Tears is a profoundly philosophical fantasy full of both tragically diabolical symmetries and laugh-out-loud hilarious moments. Four races with vastly different values, customs, and even lifespans come together to save their world, in which beings build their lives around honoring one goal, one promise, or one value above all else. Through … [Read More]
Artificial Truth
From J. M. Lee, a bestselling phenomenon in Korea, comes a haunting and mind-bending novel about the revolutionary possibilities of AI and the infinite mysteries of what it means to be human. In the virtual city of Alegria, fantasies are made real, innumerable lifetimes are lived, and even death itself is a survivable experience. An … [Read More]
A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang
When twenty-seven-year-old Yeon-hwa loses her grandmother, enigmatic proprietor of the Hwawoldang, she decides to respect her wishes by keeping the store going for at least a month, between the hours of 10pm and midnight. She has never learnt to make the traditional desserts herself, and hopes to learn more about her grandmother. On her very … [Read More]
Petty Lies
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN meets THE VEGETARIAN in this chilly and chilling epistolary novel of four characters locked in a frightening cycle of vengeance and comeuppance. Mira is a desperate young woman, hired by a wealthy single mother to tutor her lonesome son, Yuchan. But Mira is not who she presents herself to … [Read More]
The Moon Glow Bookshop
What if you could turn the pages of your own life, like the pages of your favourite book? Somewhere along the ordinary alleys you pass by every day, a mysterious shop appears between all the other familiar buildings. Surely, you didn’t see it yesterday or the day before. A large sign reads ‘The Moon Glow … [Read More]
Blood for the Undying Throne
Nothing can stop the Empire’s insatiable conquest. Not gods, not dragons, not armies. But heroes still rise. The Empire continues to enforce its so-called peace with massive war machines that destroy anything that opposes their might. Though the conquered are wholly at the mercy of the Empire, desperate odds such as these can be fertile … [Read More]
Island Ablaze and Other Stories
Island Ablaze and Other Stories is an anthology of thirteen stories—eleven from South Korea and two from North Korea—about their complicated relationships with their most important ally and enemy: the United States. Set in times ranging from colonial Korea to the new millennium, these stories offer a look into the many ways that the US empire shapes … [Read More]
No Hand Held Mine
An elderly Korean woman talking about being forced into sexual slavery during World War II. A modern Korean woman extricating herself from a failing relationship with an artist. Award-winning South Korean writer Kim Soom presents us with portraits of two women who couldn’t be more different but who both show resilience and compassion. No Hand Held … [Read More]
Flatfish: Poems
In his poetry collection, Flatfish, Moon Tae-jun offers an aesthetic that emphasizes the author’s exploration of the inner self. At times sparse and allusive, his poems use blank space and other stylistic considerations to convey a voice and thought that ranges from the contemplative to the surreal and absurd. Moon’s poems suggest Buddhist ideologies, natural images, … [Read More]
Soyangri Book Kitchen
Welcome to Soyangri Book Kitchen In a peaceful village in the countryside, far from the bustling heart of Seoul, lies a book lovers’ paradise. With its wafts of delicious food and book-filled shelves, Soyangri Book Kitchen is dotingly managed by its plucky proprietor Yoojin. Her aim? To create a sanctuary for weary souls like herself. … [Read More]
Alien Gods
Honford Star announces some of their 2025 titles, which include three books from Lovecraft Reanimated — a series of Lovecraftian horror by leading Korean writers (including Honford Star’s first graphic novel, The Call of the Friend). The titles are Alien Gods (Lovecraft Reanimated) by Lee Soo-Hyun (trans. Anton Hur) The Call of the Friend (Lovecraft … [Read More]