Ha Seongran's Short Story Collection Selected as 'Best Book of the Year' by US Publishing Trade Magazine

The Third Short Story Collection 'The First Wife of Bluebeard'

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Ha Seong-ran's third short story collection, Bluebeard's First Wife (photo), has been named one of the "2020 Best Books TOP 10" by the American publishing magazine Publishers Weekly, the Daesan Foundation announced on the 10th.

Bluebeard's First Wife was first published domestically by Changbi in March 2002. With support from the Daesan Foundation for Korean literature translation, research, and publication, the English edition (translated by Janet Hong as BLUEBEARD'S FIRST WIFE) was published by OPEN LETTER BOOKS in June this year.

Publishers Weekly praised the collection, stating, "This outstanding short story collection conveys immense guilt, hope, and pain, and its dark, strange, yet cohesive stories vividly demonstrate the author's excellence." After naming Bluebeard's First Wife among the 20 best books in fiction for 2020, Publishers Weekly selected it as one of the top 10 best books of the year across all categories.

Publishers Weekly is a U.S. weekly magazine focused on the international book publishing business, with its main readership including publishers, literary agents, librarians, authors, and media. Established in 1872, it is well-known for providing book reviews and features articles, news, bestseller lists, and statistics covering all aspects of the publishing business.

This is the second time a Korean literary work has been selected among the top 10 best books of the year since Han Kang's The Vegetarian in 2016.

The Daesan Foundation also reported that another short story collection by Ha Seong-ran, Flowers of Mold (English edition translated by Janet Hong, published by OPEN LETTER BOOKS), released last year, has also received favorable critical acclaim.

Bluebeard's First Wife is regarded as a collection closely engaged with social issues. Many stories reconstruct incidents and accidents that occurred in Korean society into fiction. The title story explores the secrets and silences of opportunistic marriages with tension; other stories include "Star-shaped Stain," based on the 1999 Sealand fire disaster, and "Paris," which deals with a police shooting incident. Translator Janet Hong has dedicated nearly 20 years to translating Korean literature, introducing works by Ha Seong-ran, Kang Youngsook, Han Yuju, Kwon Yeo-sun, and others to English-speaking readers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.