Latest news with #LightandThread
Korea Herald
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Han Kang's first post-Nobel book tops bestseller list
Nobel literature laureate Han Kang's latest book has topped a local bestseller list upon its release. Major bookstore chain Kyobo Book Center said Friday that the book, titled "Light and Thread," claimed the No. 1 spot on its bestseller list for the last week of April. Han's first publication since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature last year, the book contains a total of 12 writings, including five poems and several new prose pieces. Three of the writings stem from the Nobel Prize in Literature award events last December: the full text of the laureate lecture "Light and Thread," delivered at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm; the acceptance speech "Even In the Darkest Night" given at the subsequent banquet; and the message "A Small Teacup," left upon donating a teacup to the Nobel Prize Museum. Among the new prose pieces, "North-facing Garden" describes the garden she tended at her first fully-owned home bought in 2019, while "Garden Diary" chronicles the garden's plant life over two years starting in 2021. The book, which was released last Wednesday, has drawn particularly strong interest from female readers, who made up 69.7 percent of its audience, according to Kyobo. (Yonhap)
South China Morning Post
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
New Han Kang book Light and Thread reveals the Nobel Prize winner beyond her writing desk
After having lived a little more Advertisement When I stand at the edge of death Will I be able to think That I truly held life tight (through writing). So begins 'After Having Lived a Little More', a contemplative two-page essay by Han Kang that drifts between lyrical poetry and prose. Advertisement This brief meditation on the act of writing graces the final pages of the South Korean author's latest book, Light and Thread, her first publication since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in October 2024.
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Han Kang Nobel prize lecture book sells 10,000 copies in first day online in South Korea
A book featuring Han Kang's Nobel prize lecture sold 10,000 copies in its first day on sale online. Light and Thread, which takes its title from Han's December lecture, is her first book to be published in South Korea since she was announced as the winner of the Nobel prize in literature last October. Booksellers and publishing sources told Korea JoongAng Daily that approximately 10,000 copies of the book were sold in 24 hours via the retailers Kyobo Book Centre, Yes24 and Aladin, which together make up nearly 90% of the Korean online book market. Light and Thread was available to order online from Wednesday, and went on sale in bookshops on Thursday. The 172-page book comprises 12 pieces, beginning with the Nobel lecture, in which the author of novels including The Vegetarian and Human Acts discussed her writing process and the questions that drive her work. 'Each time I work on a novel, I endure the questions, I live inside them,' she said, according to an English translation of the talk by e yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris. 'When I reach the end of these questions – which is not the same as when I find answers to them – is when I reach the end of the writing process.' Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion The book also contains Han's banquet speech and a message accompanying a teacup that she donated to the Nobel museum, according to the Korea Herald. She had drunk from the teacup while writing We Do Not Part, her most recent novel, which was published in an English translation by yaewon and Morris in the UK earlier this year. Along with the Nobel materials, Light and Thread also features five poems, which originally appeared between 2013 and 2014 in the Korean literary magazines Littor and Literature and Society – the latter of which was home to a series of poems marking Han's literary debut in 1993. The book also features unpublished essays. One, titled North-Facing Garden, is about Han's experience tending to a garden that did not receive direct sunlight, and using a mirror to reflect light into the space. Some 73.3% of those who bought Han's latest book were women, according to the online bookstore Yes24, while for Aladin 47.1% of buyers were women in their 30s and 40s, reported Korea JoongAng Daily. After Han was announced as the Nobel winner last year, customers queued outside bookshops to get their hands on copies of her works, and online stores crashed. A version of Light and Thread will be published in English. A publication date and its exact content are yet to be announced.
Korea Herald
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Han Kang's latest 'Light and Thread' brings meditative reflections on life while tending small garden
The latest books by Han Kang, last year's Nobel Prize in literature winner, will be released today, her first publication since winning the prize. "Light and Thread" is a collection of meditative essays with five poems that takes its name from her Nobel lecture, delivered Dec. 7 at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. The lecture starts the slim volume. The 172-page collection was available for preorder starting Wednesday and will be released in bookstores beginning Thursday, according to Moonji Publishing. "Light and Thread" brings together 12 pieces, including five poems and several essays, accompanied by photos taken by Han. The book is released as part of the publisher's essay series "Ecrire" (to write in French), which curates the prose of literary writers noted for their distinctive styles. The prose and poetry collection was discussed with the author during the early planning stages of the series in 2019, according to the publisher, with the theme and concept taking final shape by December 2024. "We hope this will be a precious opportunity to meet writer(s), whom readers have only read through their polished literary works, in a more intimate and personal ways," the book's editor said to The Korea Herald. 3 pieces from Nobel Prize ceremony Three of the pieces in the collection are related to the Nobel Prize ceremony: the full text of her Nobel lecture at the Swedish Academy, her banquet speech titled "In the Darkest Night" delivered Dec. 10 and a short message she wrote when donating a teacup to the Nobel Museum, titled "Small Teacup." Regarding the teacup, Han wrote that the teacup was part of her daily routine while she was writing "We Do Not Part." She described her work routine: After getting up at 5:30 a.m. and going for a walk, she would drink a cup of tea. She drank black tea although the cup was designed for drinking green tea. "We Do Not Part" follows two women as they navigate intergenerational trauma and shared mourning for relatives lost to state violence, in the shadow of a massacre that took place on South Korea's Jeju Island in the late 1940s. It took seven years to complete the book. 'As the teacup is so small, I didn't need to take in too much caffeine. It was like very warm medicine for me, which helped me to write on,' said Han. One of the essays, "After Publication," was written in 2022, shortly after the release of "We Do Not Part." It was previously released in "The Essential: Han Kang," a special edition curated by Munhakdongne Publishing that brings together highlights from the author's key works. 5 poems after her first poetry collection It is now well known that before Han made her prose debut in 1995 with the short story collection "Love of Yeosu," she began her literary career in 1993 by publishing several poems in the literary magazine "Literature and Society." The latest collection includes five poems that originally appeared in "Literature and Society" and "Littor" between 2013 and 2024, following the publication of her first and only poetry collection, "I Put the Evening in the Drawer" (2013, Moonji Publishing). The five poems are: "The Coat and I," "North-Facing Room," "(Meditation on Pain)," "Sound(s)" and "Very Small Snowflake." 3 unpublished intimate reflections while tending garden Also included are three previously unpublished essays: "North-Facing Garden," "Garden Diary" and "After Living On." "North-Facing Garden" recounts Han's experience tending to a small garden in the first home she ever purchased under her own name -- a house with a four-pyeong (roughly 13 square meters) yard. Here, she writes about the challenge of growing plants without direct sunlight, and how, in her effort to reflect light into the space using a mirror, she began to grasp the Earth's rotation in a new, embodied way. "Garden Diary" follows in a more meditative, intimate format, chronicling her experiences in the garden day by day. The final piece in the book, "After Living On," is a two-page lyrical essay, where every sentence stands on its own line. The photo on the last page of the book features a poem Han wrote at the age of eight, which she referenced during her "Light and Thread" lecture, describing it as 'suitably innocent and unpolished (lines),' penned by her 8-year-old self. Where is love? It is inside my thump-thumping beating chest. What is love? It is the gold thread connecting between our hearts. Meanwhile, Han is also putting the finishing touches on a long-awaited novel -- the final installment in her so-called 'Winter Trilogy.' The new work is expected to be released later this year and will follow the short stories "While a Single Snowflake Melts" and "Farewell." Together, the three stories form an interconnected narrative. Han had been working on the final volume -- a midlength novel -- before her Nobel win.
Korea Herald
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Han Kang to publish first book since Nobel Prize win
New essay collection 'Light and Thread' includes Nobel lecture, poems, intimate reflections South Korean writer Han Kang is set to release her first new book since receiving the Nobel Prize in literature. The essay collection, titled "Light and Thread," will be published later this month, available in bookstores starting April 24, according to publisher Moonji Publishing. The book takes its title from Han's Nobel lecture, which she delivered at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm last Dec. 7. Spanning 172 pages, the collection includes around 10 essays and poems, including this Nobel lecture. An editor at Moonji Publishing described the new release as 'a book that allows readers to enter the author's quiet interior world -- a calm, first-person universe.' Roughly half of the content is being published for the first time, while the remaining texts have previously appeared in literary magazines. Many of the prose pieces take the form of diary-like reflections, written while tending her garden and composing poetry. In addition to essays, the collection features poems, including 'Meditation on Pain' and 'North-facing Room,' both of which were previously published in the Fall 2024 issue of Moonji's quarterly magazine, Literature & Society. "Light and Thread" is expected to be Han's only essay collection currently in circulation. Her previous nonfiction works -- "Quietly Sung Songs" (2007) and "Love and Things Surrounding Love" (2009) -- are both out of print. Meanwhile, Han is also putting the finishing touches on a long-awaited novel -- the final installment in her so-called 'Winter Trilogy.' The new work is expected to be released later this year and will follow the short stories "While a Single Snowflake Melts" and "Farewell." Together, the three stories form an interconnected narrative. Han had been working on the final volume -- a midlength novel -- before her Nobel win.
