Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize and the winner of a PEN/Heim Grant, Cursed Bunny is the wildly original debut story collection from Bora Chung
Whale is a rollercoaster adventure through Korean history and culture, a magical and grotesque epic...The plot twists and turns and hurtles along in a way that makes you pleasantly dizzy; the imagery and language in the book are also so rich, with the innocence and darkness of a fairy-tale combined with a playful sense of irony.—The International Booker Prize 2023 judges
Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize and translated by Chi-Young Kim, Whale is the first novel by Cheon Myeong-kwan to be published in English, by Archipelago Books in the U.S. and Europa in the U.K.
Set in a remote village in South Korea, Whale follows the lives of three linked characters: Geumbok, an extremely ambitious woman who has been chasing an indescribable thrill ever since she first saw a whale crest in the ocean; her mute daughter, Chunhui, who communicates with elephants; and a one-eyed woman who controls honeybees with a whistle. Brimming with surprises and wicked humor, Cheon’s story widens to embrace a motley assortment of characters, many of them motivated by lust or vengeance. Spun with the whimsy and humor of a demented deity, Whale curves toward uncharted waters.
In this episode of Author Talks, Cheon Myeong-kwan discusses his career in Korea and his English debut.
Tuesday, June 27, 2023
The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
About the Speaker:
Cheon Myeong-kwan is a South Korean novelist and screenwriter. Upon publication of his first story, "Frank and I" (2003), he received the prestigious Munhakdongne New Writer Award. His debut novel, Whale, published the following year, won him the 10th Munhakdongne Novel Award, and Chi-Young Kim’s translation has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Cheon’s novels have been translated into Chinese, English, French, Thai, Russian, and Vietnamese.
