Booker-winning Han Kang to meet UK readers with ‘Greek Lesson’

South Korean novelist Han Kang of “The Vegetarian” will meet readers in the UK ahead of the publication of the English edition of the author's novel "Greek Lessons," the Korean Cultural Center in England said.

Han is scheduled to attend a book talk event on Sunday at the 295-seat Purcell Room at the Southbank Center, in London. Writer and broadcaster Octavia Bright will moderate the event.

The English edition of “Greek Lessons,” translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won, and published by Penguin Random House, is scheduled to hit the bookshelves in Britain on April 27. The book was released on April 18 in the US by Hogarth.

The novel tells the story of two ordinary people who are brought together during a time of personal suffering. It portrays a man losing his eyesight as his world dims and a woman who has lost her speech. Yet they are drawn to each another and slowly discover a profound sense of unity.

The book is Han’s fifth full-length novel, originally published in 2011 by Munhak Dongne, a major publisher in Korea.

Following the London event, Han will meet with readers at Waterstones, a bookstore in Liverpool, England on Tuesday, and at the Topping & Company Booksellers in Bath on Thursday.

Han became the first Asian writer to win the International Booker Prize, formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize, for “The Vegetarian” in 2016. She was also a finalist in 2018 with “The White Book.”