The Freedom and Right to Share Our Stories: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai on Decolonising Literature
Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai on decolonising literature about Việt Nam by writing in the language of the coloniser.
South East Asia
South East Asia – PEN Transmissions
How Korean it is
Deborah Smith writes for PEN Atlas about the complex experience of bringing a hit South Korean novel to an English-speaking audience
Publishers’ translation highlights 2015
Halt your book purchases: PEN Atlas has everything you need
Yule love these books in translation 2014
Roasting chestnuts on an open fire, taking the first whiff of mulled wine, and cracking open a great work of literature in translation: find your stocking-filler or winter-cheerer with these recommendations
My Literary Form(s)
In the run-up to London Book Fair 2014, where Korea is the market focus, Han Kang writes about women that turn into plants, the intuitive process in choosing between prose and poetry, and what the future holds for her writing
The suffering healers
Ahead of his appearances with English PEN at the Free Word Centre and London Book Fair 2014, Hwang Sok-Yong takes us into the shamanistic past of Korean culture, and how those creation stories can be used to write about globalisation and modern suffering.
Capturing the mood
In the run-up to the London Book Fair 2014, where South Korea is the market focus, we have the first in a series of pieces from the region: today Chi Young-Kim writes about the varied places translators go to, from baseball blogs to animal fables, when transporting the reader into the world of the novel
Publishers’ highlights in 2014: part 1
Chase away those stormy blues with a new book for the new year.
The hidden languages of Burma
Following recent political reforms, Lucas Stewart investigates the impact on writers in the country, and whether there is real change in the air for ethnic literature and languages
Way to an unknown world
Krys Lee reports for PEN Atlas from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where she appeared on the panel 'New American Voices'.
Women Writers, Part I
PEN Atlas contributor Krys Lee considers the impact of Kyung-sook Shin's Man Asian Literary Prize win and where Korean women writers stand today
What We Don’t Know About North Korea
This week's PEN Atlas despatch comes from Krys Lee, who takes a look at the literature from (and about) North Korea that is available in English translation.