| A promotional banner for K-Book Festival 2022 in Japan / Courtesy of Korea Foundation |
By Park Han-sol
The K-Book Festival 2022 in Japan invites fans of contemporary Korean literature across the country for a weekend-long series filled with talks, performances and contests.
The hybrid event is scheduled to be simultaneously held at the Bellesalle Kudan in Tokyo and broadcast live via the festival's YouTube channel from Nov. 26 to 27.
Co-hosted by the Korea Foundation (KF) and Japan's K-Book Promotion Association, the fourth edition of the book festival will see a string of talks among renowned authors, translators and editors hailing from the two countries.
Kim Ae-ran, four of whose works have been translated into Japanese over the years, including “My Brilliant Life,” “Run, Abby” and “It's Summer Outside,” will engage in a dialogue with Naoki Prize-winning Japanese writer Kyoko Nakajima.
Best-selling journalist-turned-novelist Chang Kang-myoung, who has award-winning pieces like “Team Aleph” and “The Bleached” under his belt, will lead an online talk on the diverse characteristics and styles of Korean sci-fi novels.
One three-way session among veteran artist Ahn Kyu-chul, translator Yuka Kuwahata and Kyoto University of the Arts professor Akira Asada, is set to center on BTS member RM's intriguing position in the Korean fine arts scene as a patron, collector and supporter.
Last year, the rapper of the K-pop titan uploaded several photos of the pages from Ahn's essay book, “The Other Side of Things,” on HYBE's fan community platform Weverse to share what he was reading at the time. His post gave a notable boost to the sales of the book as BTS fans quickly followed suit to grab a copy for themselves.
In addition to the talks, the two-day festival will host the Japanese publishing houses' presentation and quiz contest revolving around their recommended reading list of Korean books, as well as an award ceremony for aspiring translators for their Japanese renditions of Korean literature.
Selected Korean titles will be made available for purchase at the booths set up by 38 Japanese publishers at the festival and at another 74 pop-up bookstores scattered nationwide.