Korea’s most prized literary masterpiece: a Buddhist journey questioning the illusions of human life—presented in a vivid new translation by PEN/Hemingway finalist Heinz Insu Fenkl
Often considered the highest achievement in Korean fiction, The Nine Cloud Dream poses the question: Will the life we dream of truly make us happy? Written in 17th-century Korea, this classic novel’s wondrous story begins when a young monk living on a sacred Lotus Peak in China succumbs to the temptation of eight fairy maidens. For doubting his master’s Buddhist teachings, the monk is forced to endure a strange punishment: reincarnation as the most ideal of men.
On his journey through this new life full of material, martial, and sensual accomplishments beyond his wildest dreams, he encounters the eight fairies in human form, each one furthering his path towards understanding the fleeting value of his good fortune. As his successes grow, he comes closer and closer to finally comprehending the fundamental truths of the Buddha’s teachings. Like Hesse’s Siddhartha, The Nine Cloud Dream is an unforgettable tale that explores the meaning of a good life and the virtue of living simply with mindfulness.
The Nine Cloud Dream
with
Heinz Insu Fenkl
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2019 | 6 PM
The Korea Society
350 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Dr. S. Heijin Lee is Assistant Professor at New York University, focusing on Transnational Feminist Cultural Studies; Asian/American Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Digital Media and Popular Culture. Dr. Lee’s research explores the imperial routes of culture and media. In addition to her book, The Geopolitics of Beauty, which maps plastic surgery in South Korea, Asia, and Asian America, Lee is co-editing two anthologies. Dr. Lee’s works include Other Pop Empires, Bollywood to Hallyuwood, and Fashion and Beauty in the Time of Asia, which tracks fashion and beauty as formations of Asian modernities. Lee has been published in Women and Performance: Journal of Feminist Theory and Frontiers: Journal of Women’s Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in American Studies and Certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan; a M.A. in Asian American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a B.A. in Ethnic Studies/Spanish at the University of California, Berkeley. 
Lai Frances, whose real name is Allyza Umali, is freelance journalist and producer whose work has been featured in Billboard, Allure, PopCrush, KpopStarz, The Boombox, and many more media outlets. A self-proclaimed Kpop girl group enthusiast, Lai can be found on panels at KCON and New York Comic Con while contributing to podcasts and digital projects on arts, entertainment, and culture. Frances earned a B.A. in Journalism and Video Production from Rutgers University-Newark with a focus on music, entertainment and multimedia journalism.
Beatrice Vantapool is a Content Insights Associate and runs K-pop partnerships at Tumblr. She works on Tumblr’s Fandometrics and specializes in fandom’s influence across social media. She has been featured in Billboard, Forbes, and Soompi, and interviewed artists including Pentagon, Infinite L, Tiffany Young, and Momoland.
Sarah Han is a BuzzFeed writer who loves gushing about K-Pop and all things related to makeup and skincare. Some of the artists she’s interviewed include: BTS, Red Velvet, Pentagon, NCT 127, K.A.R.D, Stray Kids, and Eric Nam. While she’s waiting for Red Velvet to recruit her as their sixth member, you can find her binging various K-dramas, watching K-pop stage mixes, and going down rabbit holes of variety shows/artist interviews/Vlives.
Narae Lee has created comics since 2007. Her original series Bloody Sweet, about a young moodang (traditional Korean shaman) who becomes linked to a vampire, won the 2016 Korean Ministry of Culture’s Grand Prize in manhwa. She is the artist of James Patterson’s The New York Times bestselling Maximum Ride original English-language manga adaptations since 2008.
Kyungran Park won the 2007 Haksan Publishing comics contest, and was artist for the four-volume series M.A.X. and multiple short series. She began serialization of her original comic Imitation in 2014, about a newbie K-pop idol’s romance and rise to stardom. The latest works of both creators have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, French, Indonesian, English and more, and are available digitally on major online comics portals.
Since 2016, TappyToon has offered a diverse range of manhwa (Korean comics) through its top-ranking smartphone apps and website, accessed daily by readers in over 190 countries. From novel adaptations to K-pop, TV drama originals to exclusive hits, TappyToon covers all genres of comics and is partnered with over a dozen publishers.
New York-based Gallery Director Susan McCaffrey has over twenty years of experience in the international contemporary art market. During her fifteen years at Sundaram Tagore Gallery, McCaffrey has mounted hundreds of exhibitions and supervised installations in museums, cultural venues, commercial spaces, government embassies and private residences around the world. 
Shin Kim, a native of Seoul, Korea, is the founder of