K-fiction advances into global market as K-pop (The DONG-A ILBO newspaper)

K-fiction advances into global market as K-pop



OCTOBER 03, 2014 05:42


"Young Korean literature advances into the world."
Asia Publishing House unveiled Korean-English translation series "K-fiction" to introduce translated versions of latest short fictions by young Korean writers to readers of the world. The first five books are "Dinner with Buffet" written by Park Min-gyu, "Arpan" by Park Hyeong-seo, "Hot Air Balloon" by Sohn Bo-mi, "My Clint Eastwood" by Oh Han-ki, and "Dishonored" by Choi Min-woo.

Asia Publishing House said, “We’ve named this series as ‘K-fiction,’ named after ‘K-pop’ that leads Korean culture fever around the world. K-fiction brand will introduce latest novels written by young Korean writers to the world and expand the territory of Korean literature.”

Asia Publishing House has published "Bilingual Series," in which 100 modern and contemporary Korean literature works are translated into English. Korean literature translation experts who translated "Bilingual Series" also participated in translation for K-fiction to produce high-quality results. “These are excellent novels which have themes that people around the world can empathize with in the globalized era. Style of writing seems a bit light, but these address in-depth themes," said researcher Jeon Seung-hee at Laboratories for Korean Studies in Harvard University, who participated in translation.

For better understanding of foreign readers, K-fiction books come with "Writing Note" that contains the writer’s thoughts, and "Commentary" and "Voice of Criticism" that describe comments of literature critiques. The series is on sale via Internet book stores and Amazon. Korean short story reading class will be held to introduce K-fiction to foreign students or short-term foreign residents in Korea. Each book is priced at 7,500 won (approximately 7.2 U.S. dollars).