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Yi Mun-yol

Yi Mun-yol was born in Seoul in 1948, but his father defected to North Korea during the Korean War, leaving his family in the South, where they had to endure years of suspicion and stigma. After much torment, struggle and poverty, he was able to enter Seoul National University. He made his literary debut in 1979 when his novella Saehagok was one of the winners of the New Spring Literary Contest sponsored by the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper. A prolific author, Yi Mun-yol has published a number of outstanding novels including Son of Man (the first chapter of which appears above), The PoetFor the Emperor, and the novellas Garuda and Our Twisted Hero. Since 1999 he has served as the head of the Buak Literary Center, a residential program for budding writers.



Articles Available Online


Son of Man

fiction

January 2014

Yi Mun-yol

TR. Brother Anthony of Taizé

fiction

January 2014

Rain falling onto thick layers of accumulated dust had left the windows of the criminal investigations office so mottled that they were virtually opaque....

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Interview

November 2013

Interview with Javier Marías

Oli Hazzard

Interview

November 2013

Javier Marías is one of Spain’s most acclaimed contemporary novelists. He began writing fiction at an early age –...

fiction

September 2014

The Fringe of Reality

Antoine Volodine

TR. Jeffrey Zuckerman

fiction

September 2014

Many thanks to those who have allowed me to speak; now I’ll do so.   I’m actually not talking...

Interview

September 2015

Interview with Patrick deWitt

Anthony Cummins

Interview

September 2015

Patrick deWitt’s new novel, Undermajordomo Minor, tells the story of Lucy, a bungling young man hired to assist a...

 

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