‘When people ask whether I am liberal or conservative, I tell them that I am an artist,’ said Muhn Baum-gong, also known as BG Muhn, an artist and professor at Georgetown University, during a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday to promote his latest publication “Pyongyang Art: The Uncovering the Complex Layers of Chosonhwa.” Dispelling any possible suspicions concerning his ideological orientation and possible ties to North Korea, Muhn emphasized that North Korean art deserves due attention f

South Korean novelist Han Kang, who won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016, has again been longlisted for the British literary award of world authority.Han's "The White Book" was among the 13 contenders picked from 108 entries for the 2018 prize, according to the announcement on the organizer's website Monday (British local time).It was translated by Deborah Smith, who was a joint recipient, along with Han, of the Man Booker award two years ago for her translation of "The Vegetarian."Fir

Poet Choi Young-mi, who revealed her experience of being groped by an unnamed senior poet through her poem, on Monday reaffirmed sexual harassment allegations made against renowned poet Ko Un, who recently denied the allegations.In a statement uploaded on Facebook on Sunday, Choi said, “The statements related to the poem ‘Monster’ are facts. I will reveal the details further, when there is an official body dedicated to investigating claims of sexual wrongdoings in the arts circle here.”  Poet Ko

Choi Jung-wha, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, has released “Global Etiquette,” a book that offers suggestions on etiquette to observe in various circumstances. Through the book, Choi, the founder and president of the Corea Image Communications Institute, provides basic guidelines of proper etiquette while also offering English language expressions that readers can easily use outside of the country. (Yes24)People in Korea appear to have a different concept of ”the other,“ Ch

“North Korea is a monster beyond the concepts ‘Leviathan’ termed by English political scientist Thomas Hobbes, and ‘Maschine’ termed by Weber.”

Korean poet Ko Un was contemplative at the launching ceremony of the Maninbo Library, Tuesday, where his old study was recreated and officially opened to the public. The Maninbo Library is situated at Seoul Archival Services, on the third floor of the Seoul Metropolitan Library. Ko Un (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) Ko Un at the Maninbo Library (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) The Maninbo Library (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) Inside the Maninbo Library (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald) The Ma

Korea University Professor Andrew Eun-gi Kim illuminates nation-building in South Korea through the lens of “civil religion,” a term the academic has coined as a framework for analyzing national identity and its concomitant material progress.

An event celebrating Korean-language literature by writers from around the world kicked off Tuesday in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.The 3rd International Congress of Writers Writing in Korean will run until Friday at the city’s Hwabaek International Convention Center.Some 63 writers from 17 countries are participating in this year’s event organized under the theme, “Korean literature, dreaming of peace in the global world,” to discuss Korean-language literature’s significance and globaliz

“The Golden House” by Salman Rushdie; Random House (400 pages, $29)If you read a lot of fiction, you know that every once in a while you stumble upon a book that transports you, telling a story full of wonder and leaving you marveling at how it ever came out of the author’s head.“The Golden House” is one of those books. The title refers to the lower Manhattan residence of the Golden family. It’s the home of Nero and his three sons, Apu, Petya and D. The narrator is a neighbor named Rene, an aspi

BEIJING  - Scholars are petitioning Cambridge University Press to restore more than 300 politically sensitive articles removed from its website in China after a request from authorities, underscoring concerns about freedom of speech and the Chinese government‘s increasing leverage over academic organizations. Cambridge University Press said Friday that it had complied with a request to block certain articles from "The China Quarterly" within China. They touch on politically sensitive subjects in

Chae Man-shik was a prolific Korean novelist, playwright, literary critic, journalist and essayist who boldly confronted society’s pretensions and predicaments under the restrictions of Japan’s colonial occupation using satire.Born in 1902 in Okgu, present-day Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Chae lived true to his calling as a public intellectual, practicing his “publish-or-perish” ethos until succumbing to tuberculosis in 1950. In a span of about 25 years he produced some 290 novels, tales, play

A slew of controversies surrounding the English translation of Han Kang’s award-winning "The Vegetarian" have started numerous conversations about accuracy and readability. Even if there were some mistranslations, they should not offend the masses, a literary critic said."The Vegetarian," winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize with translation by British translator Deborah Smith."The Vegetarian" tells the story of a woman who decides to become a vegetarian after waking up from a blood

A chronic inability to talk to attractive women can eventually reap rewards. That was the takeaway message from author Cheon Myeong-kwan as he addressed the Seoul Literary Society at the Swedish Ambassador’s residence in Seongbuk last week.Thirty years ago, the now critically acclaimed novelist lived a markedly less glamorous life. The only gig he could find was selling golf clubs, and he had to mooch off friends just to get by. Chronically miserable, his only source of joy was riding the bus an

Popular Korean authors will get to meet readers and translators in overseas literature events, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea said Tuesday. The photos provided by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea shows Kang Young-sook (left) and Jeong Ho-seung. (Yonhap)Novelists Hwang Sok-yong will attend the Turin International Book Fair in Italy from May 18-22. His book, including "Mr. Han's Chronicle" and "Princess Bari," have been translated into Italian.At the book fair, Hwang wi

SEATTLE - The literary translation community in the US has a tradition of being highbrow, a carefully tended yet narrow reflection of the stirrings of global culture beyond the Anglosphere.Then Amazon.com jumped in, like a whale into a koi pond.Armed with financial might and an intimate, machine-learned knowledge of reader behavior, the e-commerce giant made a big splash.Gabriella Page-Fort, the editorial director for AmazonCrossing, poses for a portrait on March 8, in Seattle, while holding a c