7 Questions for Kim Hye-jin, by Michelle Johnson Interviews [email protected] Mon, 04/22/2024 - 09:49 Photo © Lee HaesooOn March 20, Restless Books published Kim Hye-jin’s Counsel Culture, a novel about a woman’s scapegoating and her path to redemption, translated by Jamie Chang. Haesoo Lim, a therapist who regularly appears on a TV program, makes a scripted comment about a public figure. He later commits suicide, which leads to Haesoo’s ostracization. A ten-year-old girl and a group of stray cats are the surprising forces that bring her back into the world. Q: What initially motivated you to write Counsel Culture? A: I wanted to write about a person who had made it through a very difficult period in their lives. I thought about the events that might unfold around that person, and how her relationships might be affected. Q: What would you say is the novel’s central concern? A: Haesoo, [ten-year-old] Sei, and [the street cat] Turnip are each going through challenging times in their lives. They are struggling in environments that are hostile toward them. But it is the internal battle they are facing, the struggle with themselves, that is more crucial. Haesoo is having difficulty admitting her mistakes and accepting the situation she is currently in. She is experiencing a process of punishing and forgiving herself. Q: Kyung-sook Shin said of your first novel translated into English, Concerning My Daughter, that it’s “a... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2024-04-22 14:49:51 UTC ]
My first novel bombed spectacularly. This was about 20 years ago. Everything went wrong. First my editor quit after which my publishing house kinda-sorta forgot I existed. Orphaned was the word they used. Since nobody gave a damn, I at least got to choose my own book cover. The photograph I... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-27 08:49:54 UTC ]
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Many lives are radically different right now. But birthdays, anniversaries, and public holidays come and go as before. The pink supermoon would have appeared whether we’d watched it from our windows or outdoors among a crowd of strangers. This week, Earth Day, Shakespeare’s birthday, and World... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-04-24 14:34:13 UTC ]
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Recently, I threw out the first 60 pages of the novel I am currently working on. I had been determined to challenge myself by writing in the third person—I had spent the last ten years working on my first novel in the first person and I thought I was ready for something new and difficult. […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-21 08:48:34 UTC ]
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The Aspen Institute has just announced the winner of their 2020 Literary Prize: Christy Lefteri, for her novel, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, which tells the story of Syrian refugees in Great Britain. The Aspen Words Literary Prize was established to celebrate a work of fiction that spotlights a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-16 22:00:41 UTC ]
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T Kira Mahealani Madden is the author of the memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls. She is still an amateur magician. Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is the author of Harmless Like You—the winner of The Authors’ Club First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her short work has appeared in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-16 08:48:38 UTC ]
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Here is the shortlist for this year’s Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize. In its fifteenth year, the Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the UK’s most prestigious literary awards, as well as the largest literary prize for young writers (that means age 39 and under). Congratulations to the finalists!... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-07 13:39:50 UTC ]
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The first novel to be published by Stormzy’s new imprint #Merky Books, That Reminds Me by poet and podcaster Derek Owusu, has been longlisted for the £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize for debuts. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-06 14:35:00 UTC ]
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Julia Alvarez's "Afterlife" is her first novel for adults in 15 years. She talks about loss, fragmentation and "American Dirt." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-04-02 22:24:09 UTC ]
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“Then the Fish Swallowed Him,” the first novel in English by the Iranian-born Amir Ahmadi Arian, makes for unnerving reading. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-03-24 09:00:00 UTC ]
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The sought-after first novel by former blogger Clare Pooley exposes the need for connection in the age of social media Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-20 07:25:26 UTC ]
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“The Mountains Sing,” the first novel in English by the Vietnamese poet Nguyen Phan Que Mai, imagines her country’s traumatic 20th century through the stories of three generations of women. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-03-17 09:00:13 UTC ]
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Linda Grant has won the 2020 Wingate Literary Prize for her "compelling love letter to London life", A Stranger City (Virago). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-16 01:49:46 UTC ]
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This week, amid a deluge of vaguely horrifying, opportunistic-seeming quarantine-related reading lists, here’s something that seems genuinely good: a South Korean e-book startup is waiving its subscription fee for coronavirus patients and people under quarantine in the country. “We hope that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-03-10 16:59:11 UTC ]
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Mankell’s 1972 book, “The Rock Blaster,” now available in English, explores the struggles of a working-class man. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-05 17:00:00 UTC ]
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E.J. Koh’s memoir The Magical Language of Others floats stunningly through the abandonment she experienced as a teenager. When she was fifteen, her parents returned home to South Korea for a more lucrative job opportunity, leaving her behind in the United States with her college-going brother. ... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2020-02-28 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The National Medal of Arts recipient reflects on the immigration crisis in Afterlife, her first novel for adults in almost 15 years. The post Julia Alvarez and the Female Book of Job appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-02-20 11:00:47 UTC ]
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The still-young Aspen Words Literary Prize's longlisted titles point up 'humor in the midst of serious situations'–in issue-driven fiction. The post Aspen Words $35,000 Literary Prize Names Its 2020 Finalists appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-02-19 15:30:55 UTC ]
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When Jokha al-Harthi and Marilyn Booth won the Man Booker International Prize last year, for Booth’s translation of Sayyidat al-Qamr (Celestial Bodies), many hurried to note that al-Harthi was the “first Omani woman writer” to have a book in English translation.While true, this may give the... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2020-02-19 10:26:57 UTC ]
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Every week, the TBR pile grows a little bit more. It’s getting precarious. It’s taking up your whole nightstand. It’s threatening to crush you in your sleep. Well, what are you waiting for? Get cracking. What are you reading this week? FICTION Brandon Taylor, Real Life (Riverhead) Brandon... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-18 16:20:28 UTC ]
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The Carol Shields Prize is an effort to raise the visibility of women writers, in part with a sum that far exceeds many other book awards. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-02-07 10:00:17 UTC ]
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