At Frankfurt Book Fair, readers and publishers from across the world look for Korea’s next Han Kang

“Are there any more writers like Han Kang or [Korean] novels similar to hers?” 

This was the sentiment expressed by several editors from various publishers around the world who visited the Korea Pavilion at the 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair (Oct. 16-20) in Germany. German publisher Aufbau put five of Han Kang’s books, including “The Vegetarian,” at the very front of its display. On one wall was a giant poster, featuring a photograph of Han, promoting the German translation of “We Do Not Part,” which is scheduled to be released in December. 

This year marked the 75th year of the renowned book fair. The annual event is a global book fair that attracts tens of thousands of people from all over the world. It also serves as a sort of beachhead for publishers seeking to export their books overseas. From Oct. 16 to 18, when attendance is restricted to people from the publishing industry, over 4,300 publishers and institutes from 131 countries had their booths set up, attracting over 110,000 attendees. The event’s organizers predicted that this number will shoot up to around 210,000 when the fair is open to the public from Oct. 19 to 20. 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism-run Korea Publication Industry Promotion Agency operated Korea’s gallery this year alongside 15 other organizations, including the Korean Publishers Association, Changbi Publishers, Munhakdongne, Darakwon, Baramgil, and BookGoodCome. The Hankyoreh attended the event from Oct. 17 to 19 to see just how much international interest there is in Korean content. 

Searching for the next Han Kang 

Editors who stopped by the Korea booth on Oct. 16, the first day of the fair, started the conversation with an overt interest in Han Kang, often offering congratulations on Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize. 

The Eric Yang Agency, which manages the publication rights for Han’s work in the Philippines and Thailand, said, “We’ve received inquiries from people in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam about the rights to Han Kang books that are still available.” 

A representative of Penguin Books UK, which published the English translation of Han’s “Greek Lessons” (trans. Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won), said, “I cheered out loud when I learned Han Kang had won the Nobel Prize.”

“We’re receiving inquiries from all over the world about exporting English translations of Han’s work.” 

Several editors visited the Korea Pavilion with hopes of discovering the “next Han Kang.” Kim So-young, the CEO of Munhakdongne, the publisher of “We Do Not Part,” said, “The Swedish Academy said it selected Han because of her ability to dive into historical traumas and the human condition. We’ve received a lot of inquiries about writers who deal with similar themes.” 

“Publishers from the Anglosphere, a massive readership, have shown increased interest in Korea, and inquiries about acquiring the rights to Korean literature have increased three to four-fold during the book fair,” Kim added. 

Sam Hiyate, the president of Canadian publisher The Rights Factory, said, “One of my employees is Korean. When Han won the Nobel Prize, she suggested we search for the ‘next Han Kang,’ which is why I’m here.” 

Korean literature is still a “minor” player in the global export market for books, but people in the industry say that things are slowly changing. Bang Ae-rim, an editor at Changi Publishers who was in charge of “The Vegetarian,” said, “2016 marked a turning point in public perception of the importance of translation, leading to a boom in interest in the Anglosphere in titles like ‘Kim Ji-young, Born 1982.’ Word of mouth about Korean literature is going around, and we’ve received a number of inquiries from major overseas publishing agencies.” 

An editor from Spain who visited the Korea Pavilion said, “I started becoming interested in Korean literature around three to four years ago, and ‘The Vegetarian’ was my first Korean novel. Before, my interest in Korean literature was personal, but now it serves my business interests, and many local [Spanish] readers are interested in learning more about Korea.” 

“It’s like I won the Nobel Prize”

There were a number of attendees having their photo taken in front of the Seoul International Book Fair booth’s banner that congratulated Han on her Nobel Prize. Gerlinde Hacker, the head of an association of Austrian women writers, and Eva Surma, said, “We came to the Korea Pavilion because we wish to invite Han to one of our book club events.” 

Surma said, “I was pleased to hear that it was a woman who won.”

“I wasn’t aware of [Han] before, but I think it’s especially meaningful that [the Nobel Prize in literature] went to a woman and to a writer who wasn’t from Europe or the English-speaking world,” she added.

Kim Seong-ju, a Korean German who was assisting with duties at the Korean Pavilion, noted, “Some of the visitors have been asking whether Han Kang will be coming to the fair, and some have been asking profound questions about how Korean society has been changing through her books.”

The booth for the German publishing company Aufbau where Han’s books were on display was thronged with visitors leafing through copies. The books sold quickly on Saturday — a day when ordinary visitors not in the publishing industry came by — leaving some of the shelves bare. Many decided to read “The Vegetarian” as a starting point for exploring Han’s body of work.

The visitors ranged in age from their 20s to their 70s, but women showed particular interest.

Nilofar Dehestani, a self-described fan of Han’s, explained that the author “sees the world from a perspective that only minority people possess.”

“I’ve never read fiction like this before. When Han Kang won [the Nobel Prize], I felt as pleased as if I’d won it myself, and I posted the news to my Instagram account.”

Daniela Diaz explained that she learned about Han when she happened across the writer’s work at a large bookstore.

“I’ve read three of her books so far. I also started reading up on Korean history after reading ‘Human Acts,’” she added. “Human Acts” focused on the traumas surrounding the events in Gwangju in May 1980. 

“I heard that Han Kang was blacklisted after the book came out, so I think it’s really wonderful that she won a Nobel Prize.”

Andreas Krauß, a sales manager for Aufbau, said, “We’re expecting sales of around 100,000 copies of Han’s books by the end of this year.”

“We’re also looking forward to seeking out other Korean writers going forward,” he added.
 
Disappointment over pavilion’s lack of events

This year’s event was the first major book fair since Han won the Nobel Prize, and many hoped that the Korean Pavilion would see more activity as a result.

But apart from a small banner hung by the Seoul International Book Fair at its pavilion booth, there were no promotional materials announcing Han’s honor or related events such as special exhibitions or parties.

Typically, different countries have created networking opportunities at book fairs by organizing welcome parties on various themes. The Korean Pavilion showed no signs of any such events.

Meanwhile, other Asian countries such as Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan used receptions as opportunities to invite publishers from different countries and share information about their books.

An official with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism-run Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea — which was in charge of running this year’s pavilion — explained, “Part of this was due to the focus on support efforts, but the fact that the book fair took place right after the Nobel Prize announcements meant there was not enough time to examine [options].”

The Literature Translation Institute of Korea did present Han’s books and printed up A4-sized documents sharing information about her Nobel honors.

A Kenyan publishing company distribution official who visited the Korean Pavilion without knowledge of Han’s award explained, “Even after visiting the Korean Pavilion, I had no way of knowing Han Kang had won the Nobel Prize.”

“I visited because I want to export Korean literature to Kenya, and when you have this kind of good news, it would have been nice to see more awareness being raised,” they added.

A publishing company representative at the pavilion said, “We’re getting a lot of ordinary visitors who are very interested in Korea.”

“It’s disappointing that Han Kang’s honor hasn’t been used as an opportunity to raise more awareness of the Korean Pavilion through different events,” they lamented.

By Jang Ye-ji, Berlin correspondent

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