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Seoul Int'l Writers' Festival to kick off next week
- October 05, 2021 | Other
Seoul Int'l Writers' Festival to kick off next week
Updated : 2021-09-30 11:14
By Park Han-sol
The 10th Seoul International Writers' Festival, a global platform for fruitful literary exchanges between Korean and international authors and readers since its inception in 2006, will be held in a hybrid online-offline format starting next week.
Under the theme of "Awakening," 33 writers from 16 countries will participate in the event from Oct. 8 to 24 to discuss the role and future of literature after COVID-19 comes to an end, a period that will inevitably be marked by sweeping cultural changes worldwide.
The 17-day festival ― jointly hosted by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, the Seoul Design Foundation and Incheon International Airport Corporation ― will hold lectures, writers' talks, film screenings, recitals and multilingual reading sessions of Korean literature.
Discussions are expected to cover a wide range of humanities-based topics such as the environment, gender and genre, and youth fiction.
The festival will open next Friday with the voices of celebrated novelist Han Kang, a recipient of the prestigious 2016 Man Booker International Prize for "The Vegetarian," and Mariana Enriquez, an Argentinian author and journalist known for her works of Latin American Gothic realism.
Notable sessions include a one-on-one writers' talk between author-chemist Kwak Jae-sik and multiple Hugo Award-winning American writer Ken Liu, in which the two will share their views on artificial intelligence, the Metaverse and the idea of utopia through their works of science fiction.
Another session between author Kim Soom and French writer and film director Vanessa Springora will investigate literature's role in dealing with historical trauma.
Other participants include English writer Max Porter, Yun Ko-eun, whose "The Disaster Tourist" has recently made headlines as the recipient of the 2021 Dagger Award, and the rising author Lee Mi-ye who wrote the best-selling book "Dollar Good Dream Department Store."
In celebration of the 10th edition of the festival, four short films that have been adapted from domestic literary works will be screened both online and at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Oct. 9 and 10, accompanied by Q&A sessions with the authors and directors. The original works in question are "Tomorrow's Lovers" by Jung Young-su, "Free Falling" by Hwang Jung-eun, "Big Brother" by Kim Kyung-uk and "Worms" by Kim Ae-ran.
The 10th Seoul International Writers' Festival, a global platform for fruitful literary exchanges between Korean and international authors and readers since its inception in 2006, will be held in a hybrid online-offline format starting next week.
Under the theme of "Awakening," 33 writers from 16 countries will participate in the event from Oct. 8 to 24 to discuss the role and future of literature after COVID-19 comes to an end, a period that will inevitably be marked by sweeping cultural changes worldwide.
The 17-day festival ― jointly hosted by the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea), the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture, the Seoul Design Foundation and Incheon International Airport Corporation ― will hold lectures, writers' talks, film screenings, recitals and multilingual reading sessions of Korean literature.
Discussions are expected to cover a wide range of humanities-based topics such as the environment, gender and genre, and youth fiction.
The festival will open next Friday with the voices of celebrated novelist Han Kang, a recipient of the prestigious 2016 Man Booker International Prize for "The Vegetarian," and Mariana Enriquez, an Argentinian author and journalist known for her works of Latin American Gothic realism.
Notable sessions include a one-on-one writers' talk between author-chemist Kwak Jae-sik and multiple Hugo Award-winning American writer Ken Liu, in which the two will share their views on artificial intelligence, the Metaverse and the idea of utopia through their works of science fiction.
Another session between author Kim Soom and French writer and film director Vanessa Springora will investigate literature's role in dealing with historical trauma.
Other participants include English writer Max Porter, Yun Ko-eun, whose "The Disaster Tourist" has recently made headlines as the recipient of the 2021 Dagger Award, and the rising author Lee Mi-ye who wrote the best-selling book "Dollar Good Dream Department Store."
In celebration of the 10th edition of the festival, four short films that have been adapted from domestic literary works will be screened both online and at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Oct. 9 and 10, accompanied by Q&A sessions with the authors and directors. The original works in question are "Tomorrow's Lovers" by Jung Young-su, "Free Falling" by Hwang Jung-eun, "Big Brother" by Kim Kyung-uk and "Worms" by Kim Ae-ran.
Reporter : hansolp@koreatimes.co.kr
