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South Korea

The covers of the six books featured in the Watchlist: Buland Al-Haidari and Modern Iraqi Poetry,...
The Watchlist: May 2023
By Tobias Carroll
Tobias Carroll recommends new fiction, poetry, and nonfiction from Argentina, Germany, Iraq, Italy, and South Korea.
The covers of the books featured in the list
Your #IWD2023 Reading List
By Words Without Borders
In honor of International Women’s Day 2023, WWB recommends 10 forthcoming books written and translated by women and published by small presses.
The covers of the books featured in the list
The Best Books of 2022—And What We’re Looking Forward to in 2023
By Words Without Borders
Our staff, contributors, and board members share their favorite translated books of the year and the titles they’re looking forward to in 2023.
The covers of the books featured in the Watchlist
The Watchlist: October 2022
By Tobias Carroll
Tobias Carroll recommends noteworthy new books in translation from Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Colombia, South Korea, and Norway.
The covers of all the books featured in the list
12 Global Children’s Books for History Lovers
By Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
In celebration of #WorldKidLitMonth, Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp recommends 12 international books for young readers with an interest in world history.
two rows of people playing pachinko
Tischbeinahe, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Pachinko Parlor
By Elisa Shua Dusapin
“Do you know what your grandmother’s mother did to avoid being subjected to speaking Japanese at school? She sliced off part of her own tongue.”
Translated from French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins
The covers of the five books featured in the Watchlist
The Watchlist: September 2022
By Tobias Carroll
Tobias Carroll recommends new and exciting books in translation from Sudan, Belgium, Haiti, France, and South Korea.
July 2022 Poetry Collection Feature
8 Poetry Collections in Translation to Read in 2022
By Words Without Borders
Recent and forthcoming poetry in translation from Mexico, South Korea, Croatia, Haiti, and more.
A woman's mouth, chin, and neck
Photo by Pan Yunbo on Unsplash
Ligature Marks
By Lee Hyemi
The interplay of night and day. Deception and falsity.
Translated from Korean by Soje
Multilingual
Something No One Else Has
By Kyung-sook Shin
San feels reassured that Namae’s body is as skinny and pathetic as her own.
Translated from Korean by Anton Hur
The Literary Life of K-pop Lyrics
By Sang Young Park
I’d accumulated what is surely the biggest collection of gem-like K-pop lyrics in the world.
Translated by Anton Hur
Roommate, Woman
By Lee Young-ju
On waking, I see my body has been rearranged.
Translated from Korean by Jae Kim
MultimediaMultilingual
The Winners of the Words Without Borders—Academy of American Poets Poem-in-Translation Contest
By the Editors of Words Without Borders
We received 717 poems from 282 poets from 87 countries translated from 55 languages.
The Cupboard with Strawberry Jam
By Lee Hyemi
If I had a spare season, I would’ve rushed to whisper vulgar words
Translated from Korean by Soje
Learn
Customer
By Lee Jong San
I heard that their overflowing hormones made them dangerously seductive.
Translated from Korean by Victoria Caudle
College Folk
By Kim Bong-gon
Caught off guard, we were laughably weak.
Translated from Korean by Kyoung-lee Park
Korean Literature Is Stepping Out
By Anton Hur
Now, thanks to our authors, we’re ready to step forth into the sun.
About My Daughter
By Kim Hye-jin
These kids could be just clever, fancy thugs.
Translated from Korean by Anton Hur
The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta, Part III
By Sang Young Park
We were five minutes out on our jeep when the sound of an explosion big enough to shake the car resounded from behind us.
Translated from Korean by Anton Hur
The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta, Part II
By Sang Young Park
I knew better than anyone else that Oh was not gay, that he was just using these rumors.
Translated from Korean by Anton Hur
The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta
By Sang Young Park
I went to Iraq to make a queer film the likes of which the world had never seen.
Translated from Korean by Anton Hur
Multimedia
Conflicting Stories
By Susan Harris
These works reflect a striking range of existential challenges shaping lives across the globe.
February 2019 International Graphic Novel Grass Keum Suk Gendry Kim Feature
From “Grass”
By Keum Suk Gendry-Kim
I had no idea I wouldn't be coming back.
Translated by Janet Hong
LearnMultimedia
Flight: An International Exquisite Corpse
By Pema Bhum, Claudia Salazar Jiménez, Krys Lee, and Kanako Nishi
Four writer/translator teams work together to create a single story in multiple languages.
Translated by Elizabeth Bryer, Kang Daehoon, Tenzin Dickie, and Allison Markin Powell
Beyond Queer: The Queer Issue
By Susan Harris
The contributors to our Queer issues produce narratives that elude facile compartmentalization.
Dori and Jina
By Choi Jin-young
I didn’t know Dori’s wounds, and Dori didn’t know mine—perhaps that’s why we could see each other as we were in that moment.
Translated from Korean by Soje
LearnMultilingual
Just Dinner, but Oh, What a Feast
By Rohan Kamicheril
Though food may fail to broker communication, this is often one of its major supposed roles.
A Meal of Solitude for a Restless Heart
By Jeon Sungtae
I had never before paid so much attention to the act of eating.
Translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell
Learn
In Praise of Nonconformity: The Queer Issue
By Susan Harris
Behind the bigotry and hyperbole lurk the fear of the unknown, the threat to the status quo.
Genesis
By Jeon Sam-hye
Because what you felt when he turned you down was how I felt whenever I looked at you.
Translated from Korean by Anton Hur
LearnMultilingual
Tell Me Where to Go
By Kim Han-min
You're a born stranger. You'll feel out of place in every country.
Translated by Jamie Chang & Sora Kim-Russell
Learn
Wizard Bakery
By Koo Byung-Mo
Do not forget the magical forces you used today may circle back to you some day to return the favor.
Translated from Korean by Jamie Chang
Learn
Building a New World
By Valeria Luiselli
Perhaps language, especially written and read, acquaints time with space.
A Poem I Didn’t Name
By Ko Un
Now is a time of national mourning.
Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé & Lee Sang-Wha
Say Ah, Pelican
By Park Min-gyu
Eventually the boats were no more than little dots in the sky
Translated from Korean by Jenny Wang Medina
from “I’ll Be Right There”
By Kyung-sook Shin
When whales swim toward the coastline, they sound like North Korean spy submarines.
Translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell
Learn
Injeolmi Rice Cakes
By Kim Sa-in
I would collapse on the warm floor and sleep like a cat.
Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé & Susan Hwang
LearnMultilingual
The Vegetarian
By Han Kang
Your body smells of meat.
Translated from Korean by Deborah Smith
Learn
Lament
By Han Yujoo
I can't write a single sentence.
Translated from Korean by Janet Hong
Multilingual
The Suit
By Young-ha Kim
He finally realized why Alex had hired an investigator and invited him to the US.
Translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell
LearnMultilingual
Ascending Scales
By Ae-ran Kim
Mi-yeong and I tried to grab the piano legs, but it was too late.
Translated from Korean by Jamie Chang
Learn
Gamak Valley
By Ko Un
If an unfamiliar man appears, their eyes light up.
Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé & Lee Sang-Wha
Multilingual
My Wife’s Magic
By Shim Bo-Seon
I want to live in a world that’s perfect like magic.
Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé & Eun-Gwi Chung
Multilingual
Earning My Keep
By Jeong Ho-Seung
I think I'll go pay a visit to Hell.
Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé & Susan Hwang
LearnMultilingual
Mud Flats
By Kim Soo-Bok
At dawn a ship leaves, cutting through her stomach.
Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé
Multilingual
Winter That Year
By Yi Mun-yol
As the late autumn winds began to blow, the place came alive.
Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizé
I Am a Communist
By Kun-woong Park
In February of 1949, police officers stormed in without warning.
Translated by Sora Kim-Russell & Jamie Chang
Beauty
By Sim Sangdae
Ever since I was much younger, my mom had often dragged men into her bedroom.
Translated from Korean by Amber Hyun Jung Kim
The Chef’s Nail
By Yun Ko-eun
In order to grab their attention, she needed to catch their eyes from the moment she got on the subway.
Translated from Korean by Charles La Shure
Marilyn Monroe and Lady Gaga’s Korea, and Korean Literature
By Young-ha Kim
About half a century after Monroe visited Korea, Lady Gaga came to call.
Translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell
Tree of Kisses
By Kim Bi
She wished she were blind so she couldn’t see the man mincing around, mimicking her father in a skirt.
Translated from Korean by Sora Kim-Russell & Eunjung Kwon-Lee
LearnMultilingual
Crying over Light Green
By Ra Heeduk
No, the word “green” is hardly adequate.
Translated from Korean by Won-Chung Kim & Christopher Merrill
Garden of My Childhood
By Oh Jung-hee
Hold on tight. And when I held on to his hair, as he told me to, I got his sticky and greasy hair tonic all over my hands.
Translated from Korean by Ha-yun Jung
Learn
Memories of Lily-Colored Photographs
By Jung Mi Kyung
Photographs of a former girlfriend develop into a problem in Jung Mi Kyung's short story.
Translated from Korean by Chi-Young Kim