6/9 @ 7pm - Cheon Myoung-kwan in conversation with Naomi Hirahara and translator Chi-Young Kim
Join us on Friday, June 9th at 7pm for a special conversation with Korean author and Man Booker Prize nominee Cheon Myeong-Kwan, translator Chi-Young Kim, and local novelist Naomi Hirahara!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Whale, set in a remote village in South Korea, 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, Whale is an adventure-satire of epic proportions by one of the most original voices in South Korea.
"Told in an omniscient and playful narrative voice, smoothly translated by Chi-Young Kim, this is a distinctly Korean take on Great Expectations, a tale of aspiration and folly punctuated with artisanal bricks and dried fish . . . an affecting theme emerges about the sins of mothers, while philosophical notions broach the comic . . . and the profound . . . The novel succeeds thanks to its multi-sensual atmosphere of strangeness and a conflicted protagonist who simply refuses to accept the mundane."— Christian House, Financial Times
"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 translator Chi-Young Kim has done an amazing job, the translation is so dynamic and full of life."— The International Booker Prize 2023 judges
"Whale gives new meaning to the generation-spanning epic. Cheon expertly inserts metafictional jousts into his stirring prose, sardonically toying with our need for narrative even as he explores his characters' lives with heartfelt urgency. Wonderfully translated by Kim, Whale is an intricate work of art with unexpected riches."— YZ Chin
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Cheon Myeong-kwan is a South Korean novelist, screenwriter and director whose work has been translated into eight languages. Upon publication of the author’s first story, Frank and I (2003), he received the prestigious Munhakdongne New Writer Award. Cheon’s debut novel, Whale, was published the following year. It won the 10th Munhakdongne Novel Award and has become one of the most loved novels in South Korea, where it is regarded as a modern classic. Cheon Myeong-kwan’s novel Whale was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023, announced on April 18 2023
Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar Award-winning author of traditional mystery series and noir short stories. Her first historical mystery, Clark and Division, follows the release of a Japanese American family from a World War II detention center to Chicago. The seventh and final installment of her Mas Arai series, Hiroshima Boy, was published in Japan on August 6, 2021. Currently living in her birthplace, Pasadena, California, she was an editor of The Rafu Shimpo newspaper. Evergreen, the follow-up to Clark and Division and set in 1946 Los Angeles, will be released in August 2023.
Chi-Young Kim is a literary translator and editor based in Los Angeles. A recipient of the Man Asian Literary Prize for her work on Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin (2011), she has translated over a dozen books, including works by Ae-ran Kim, You-jeong Jeong, and Young-ha Kim, among others.