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'The state of being lonely': South Korean horror writer shortlisted for Booker
A head pops out of the toilet, a woman gets pregnant from birth control pills -- South Korean Booker Prize nominee Bora Chung's short stories are full of horror, inspired by her own life.
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This picture taken on May 17, 2022 shows South Korean horror writer Bora Chung speaking during an interview with AFP at her apartment in the South Korean port city of Pohang. (AFP/Jung Yeon-je)
A
head pops out of the toilet, a woman gets pregnant from birth control pills -- South Korean Booker Prize nominee Bora Chung's short stories are full of horror, inspired by her own lonely life.
An academic specialising in Slavic literature, Chung was considered a "genre writer" and excluded from South Korea's mainstream literary scene. Until recently, she was relatively unknown to local readers.
Her stories -- which combine science fiction, horror and fantasy -- are not considered "pure" literature by Seoul's cultural elite. But her life took a dramatic turn when her 2017 collection Cursed Bunny caught the eye of translator Anton Hur.
Hur's English edition of the book, released by British publisher Honford Star, has been named a finalist for this year's International Booker Prize.
Only two South Korean writers -- Han Kang (The Vegetarian) and Hwang Sok-yong (At Dusk) -- have previously been nominated for the honour, and both were far more established and well regarded domestically.
Cursed Bunny has not won any prizes in South Korea, and Chung mostly earned a living teaching at a university and translating Russian literature.
"I certainly don't think Chung is aiming to write 'pure' literature, and her work is all the richer for it," Jeremy Tiang, one of the judges for this year's International Booker Prize, told AFP.
