K-Book Trends -

Search word : "The International Booker Prize", Search result : 19

[TREND / KNOWLEDGE]

The Rise of Literary Agencies 2021.06.07 There are not many literary agencies in Korea. Most of the publishers prefer working directly with authors over cooperating with agencies. It was common for publishers to think that it is safer to pay more of an advance to overseas writers who have already finished writing their manuscript or are expected to finish them soon rather than domestic writers who have not yet completed their manuscript.The most significant characteristic of the Korean publishing industry would be “diversity.” The system in which up to 6 thousand small- and medium-sized publishers make more than 80 thousand physical titles each year has greatly diversified the types of books published in Korea, but the limited average sales of each title was an expected outcome. In such an environment, it is difficult to invest a sufficient amount of development fee for each title. Hence, even though the literary agent succeeded in discovering fine manuscripts or o...

VOL.35 / 2021.06

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

The Most Korean is the Most Global

Export Case The Most Korean is the Most Global 2024.02.19 It is the era of Hallyu, the Korean Wave. Korea’s soft power - movies, dramas, cuisine, literature, and more - is shaking up the world. Following the movie “Parasite,” “Squid Game” and “Pachinko,” which were released on global OTT platforms, global curiosity about Korea expanded. Korea is now one of the major tourist destinations frequented by people from all over the world, and Korean food such as ramen, kimbap, and tteokbokki are considered hip and trendy, and have gained immense popularity around the world. People around the world looking to understand Korea a little better are now seeking to read Korean literature and share Korean sentiments. In response to this demand, major publishers around the world have been actively scanning Korean titles for their markets. The enthusiasm could be felt firsthand at the Korean Pavilion installed at the Frankfurt Book Fair held last October. Consultati...

VOL.67 / 2024.02

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

Enjoy the Taste and Scent of Korea With Genre Literature

Export Case Enjoy the Taste and Scent of Korea With Genre Literature 2024.01.02 February 11, 2024, will mark exactly 30 years since Korean writer Djuna uploaded his first short story to an online SF community on the PC communication service “HiTEL.” The story was titled A Butterfly that Traveled Back in Time, and it was Djuna’s first official release. Since his debut in 1994, Djuna has published a total of 170 novels, and it is almost 200 if you count his unpublished works as well. He is the most prolific and longest-running science fiction writer in Korea. Djuna is like a cornerstone of Korean SF, with many SF writers confessing to being his fans, saying that they were greatly influenced by him. However, it was only recently that Djuna was introduced to the international audience. It was in 2019 that the short stories The Second Nanny and The Bloody Battle of the Broccoli Plain were published separately as ebooks, audiobooks, and paperbacks...

VOL.66 / 2024.01

[TREND / TOPIC]

From the Margins to the Center: Korean Mystery Literature

Topic From the Margins to the Center: Korean Mystery Literature 2023.08.07 Korean mystery literature originated in the unique conditions of the Japanese occupation. Introduced under the names of spy novels, detective stories, and detective novels, mystery literature was translated and adapted mainly from newspaper serials. A representative work is Arthur Conan Doyle’s Three Students, which Haemongsaeng adapted and published as Faithful Servent on Taeseomunyesinbo in 1918. Most of the works serialized in newspapers at the time were re-translations of works by Ruiko Kuriowa, a Japanese author of adapted novels. By the 1920s, adapted mystery novels moved out of newspapers and were published in magazines such as Hacksaengkye, Chungnyeon, and Dongmyung, and emphasized that they were intellectual works for readers with a certain level of reading ability, such as educated young adults and students.However, the writers who translated and wrote mystery literature w...

VOL.61 / 2023.08

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

Flowers of the Orient ? Bringing Korean Gems to Polish Readers

Export Case Flowers of the Orient? Bringing Korean Gems to Polish Readers 2023.05.02 Sixteen years ago, immediately after a fellow Korean Philology student and good friend, Edyta Matejko-Paszkowska, and I decided to establish a publishing house that was centered around Korean literature, people were perplexed. ‘Why?’ they asked. Few believed it was a great idea at the time, and some attitudes could now be considered mocking. However, now that the Korean wave (Hallyu) has reached Poland, they are no longer laughing. The popularity of Korean cuisine, language, dramas, and K-pop has extended to Korean literature.Up until around 2007, a total of seventeen titles of what could be classed as modern or classical literature had been translated from Korean into Polish - extremely low compared to the likes of Japan or China, which both ran into the hundreds. Several key factors explain why Korean literature translations weren’t widespread. Firstly ...

VOL.58 / 2023.05

[TREND / TOPIC]

The “Most Korean” Features Penetrate the World

Topic The “Most Korean” Features Penetrate the World 2023.01.02 I met Kristen Vida Alfaro, CEO of Tilted Axis Press, in the UK last September. Tilted Axis Press is the publisher set up by Debora Smith, who won the International Booker Prize with Han Kang. The company introduced Love in the Big City (Changbi Publishers) written by Park Sang-Young and translated by Anton Hur to the UK, and the book put its name on the Booker Prize Longlist this year. Also, translated by the same translator, Chung Bora’s Cursed Bunny (Arzak) was selected for the Booker Prize Shortlist. As such, Korean literature ? or K-literature ? has recently been creating a sensation in English-speaking countries. If you take a closer look at the phenomenon, you will realize that diaspora literature written by Korean-Americans is at the center of popularity, such as Lee Min-Jin’s Pachinko and Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H Mart. * K-Book Trends Vol. 47 ? Go t...

VOL.54 / 2023.01

[INFORMATION / BEST SELLERS]

2nd Week, November 2023

Best Sellers 2nd Week, November 2023 Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea 2023.12.04 For the second week of November, books that have been the center of attention dominated the list of bestsellers. The book Reading Schopenhauer at Forty quickly rose to the top of the list after being recommended by actor Ha Seok-Jin on the popular Korean TV show “I Live Alone.” On the show, he was shown to be very dedicated to self-management - exercising, studying, and enjoying his hobbies - which likely inspired viewers to purchase the book. The book features 30 pieces of advice from philosopher Schopenhauer, who has inspired countless people. It offers wisdom for those entering their 40s with mixed feelings to realize the true meaning of life.Han Kang’s I Do Not Bid Farewell, published in 2021, won this year’s Medici Prize in France, again ranking 7th on the overall bestseller list. The Korean publishing industry is rejoicing ...

VOL.65 / 2023.12

[TREND / EXPORT CASE]

Successful Import Case of Korean Literature in the U.K.

Export Case Successful Import Case of Korean Literature in the U.K. Publishing the best literature from East Asia, be it classic or contemporary 2022.09.05 When we started Honford Star, our original plan was to publish the short stories of Yi Sang, the tragic poet of early modern Korean literature. His bizarre imagery and youthful exuberance attracted us, even though the difference in language and decades between him and us. Unfortunately, we were never able to publish Yi, but our love of offbeat Korean literature continued.At Honford Star, we aim to translate books right at the edge between genre fiction and literary fiction. So when Anton Hur sent us the first two stories in the Cursed Bunny (Arzak) short story collection, we bought the rights as fast as we could. The stories were absurdist masterpieces that showcased author Bora Chung’s ability to mix the fantastical with social critique. Her stories fit in perfectly with our other Korean b...

VOL.50 / 2022.09

[INFORMATION / BEST SELLERS]

2nd Week, September 2021

Best Sellers 2nd Week, September 2021 Bestseller Trends in the Four Biggest Online Bookstores in Korea 2021.10.05 It’s September in Korea, and the warm sun and the cool breeze put smiles on people’s faces. As the traditional book-reading season of autumn approaches, fiction is showing its presence on the integrated list of bestsellers. Along with the continued popularity of the Dollagoot Dream Department Store series, which has brought about a fantasy fiction syndrome in Korea, writer Han Kang’s I Do Not Bid Farewell ranked first on the list. This book is the first new title from Han Kang in five years since she won the International Booker Prize in 2016 with The Vegetarian (Changbi) and has been gaining popularity among not only Korean readers but also foreign readers. The story I Do Not Bid Farewell depicts the memories of love that make human beings human in poetic sentences against the background of the Jeju April 3 Incident, a painful event in Korean histor...

VOL.39 / 2021.10

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