Dear Friends,

We apologize that the last meeting could not be held online due to a problem connecting to Zoom.  We promise to do our best to ensure that there are no problems with the program progressing online in the future.

For the May meeting, we will read and discuss ‘I’ll Go On’ authored by Hwang Jungeun and translated by Emily Yae Won.

The meeting will be held ONLINE & IN-PERSON.

WHEN_Thursday. May 11, 2023. 7:30 PM (Seoul)
WHERE_Online Zoom & B1, North Terrace Cafe (near Anguk Station or Jongno-3ga Station (SUBWAY Line 1, 3, or 5))
READ_‘I’ll Go On’ by Hwang Jungeun (Translated by Emily Yae Won)
LEADER_Jenny Byun

BOOK PURCHASE:   UK Tilted Axis Press (Publisher) | US Amazon  |  KR Kyobo Books

*No RSVP Required

From the Publisher

From one of South Korea’s most acclaimed young authors comes the story of two sisters, Sora and Nana. When Sora was ten years old, and Nana was nine, their father died in a freak accident at the factory where he worked, his body sucked under a huge cogwheel, crushed beyond recognition. Their mother Aeja, numb with grief, gives in to torpor, developing an unhealthy obsession with the paradoxical violence implicit in life.

Now adults, Sora finds herself dreaming of the past when she discovers that Nana is pregnant. Her initial reaction is shock – though they live together, she never even realized her younger sister had a lover – and Nana’s icy response to her attempt at being considerate (‘You hate this, so don’t pretend like I’m some poor pregnant woman you have to pity’) drives a wedge between the two. Can Naghi – the boy who shared their childhood, and the simple, nourishing meals cooked by his mother – help the sisters break free of Aeja’s worldview in which life is ultimately futile and love is always doomed?

A delicate stylist with an unflinching social gaze, in I’ll Go On Hwang Jungeun has crafted a poignant novel with an uncanny ear for the unspoken secrets and heartaches buried beneath daily life and family ritual. Above all, it is a stunning exploration of the intensity of early bonds – and the traces they leave on us as we grow up.

About the Author

Born in 1976, Hwang Jungeun is one of the bright young things of Korean literature, having published two collections of short stories and three novels to date. One Hundred Shadows (2010), her first novel, was both a critical and commercial success; its mix of oblique fantasy, hard-edge social critique, and offbeat romance garnered the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award and the Korean Booksellers’ Award. (Tilted Axis Press)

About the Translator

Emily Yae Won 이예원 is an art and literary translator who works in Korean and in English. She has translated over thirty titles of fiction, essays, illustrated books, and graphic novels, including works by Djuna Barnes, Samuel Beckett, Jennifer Croft, Jenni Fagan, Hwang Jungeun, Deborah Levy, Ali Smith, Joanna Walsh, and Yi SangWoo. Forthcoming translations include Jessica Au’s Cold Enough for Snow, Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown, Han Kang’s Greek Lessons (co-translated with Deborah Smith), Hwang Jungeun’s dd’s Umbrella (forthcoming from Tilted Axis Press), and Samuel Beckett’s Collected Shorter Plays. They have been a literary translator since 2004. (Tilted Axis Press)

VENUE: Online Zoom & In-person 

• In-Person: The ‘North Terrace Cafe (Basement)’ is located at 12 Yulgok-ro 10-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul.  Go to Anguk Station on the Orange #3 Line.  Go out Exit 4 and do an immediate U-turn on the sidewalk.  Then take a right in front of the Japanese Cultural Center and walk towards Changdeok-gung, but on the opposite side of the main street (Yulgok-ro) from the palace.  Please note the below map.

• Online Zoom Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83251283786?pwd=cVovaVVZajRTOHYyUzc5OU9BQzJFQT09  (Meeting ID: 832 5128 3786 / Passcode: 040543)