‘Non-Human, Beyond Human to Human’ Seoul International Book Fair Opens Next Month

The Seoul International Book Fair, the largest book festival in Korea, will be held for five days from June 14 at COEX in Samseong-dong under the theme "Non-human, Beyond Human, to Human."

According to the Korea Publishers Association, the organizer of the event, around 400 publishers and organizations will set up booths this year. Approximately 360 domestic publishers and organizations will participate in the Korean Pavilion, operating markets, exhibiting books, and hosting lectures and autograph sessions. Including 72 domestic publishers handling art books and independent publications, bookstores and independent publishers from five Asian countries (Thailand, Singapore, Japan, China, Taiwan) will also participate.

Novelists Cheon Seon-ran, Pyeon Hye-young, Oh Jeong-hee, Kim In-sook, Kim Ae-ran, and Choi Eun-young, who serve as ambassadors for the Seoul International Book Fair (from left).
[Photo by Korea Publishers Association]

The guest of honor country is Sharjah from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sharjah is one of the seven emirates of the UAE. It will showcase Arab culture and books through book talks, books, and cultural performances.

Canada, celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, will also prepare a special space. About 30 publishers will organize the Canadian Pavilion, and Yann Martel, the author of the world-renowned bestseller "Life of Pi" who won the Man Booker Prize, will give a lecture. He will meet readers with a lecture on June 14-15 and an autograph session on June 17.

This year’s promotional ambassadors are novelists Oh Jung-hee, Kim In-sook, Pyun Hye-young, Kim Ae-ran, Choi Eun-young, and Cheon Seon-ran. They plan to interact with readers through lectures at the book fair venue on June 18. In addition, various speakers from different fields, including novelists Cheon Myeong-kwan, Kim Yeon-su, Kim Cho-yeop, Kim Geum-hee, Jeong Ji-don, Kim Mella, poets Oh Eun, Seo Yun-hoo, ecologist Choi Jae-chun, lyricist Kim Ina, announcer Lim Hyun-joo, and literary critic Shin Hyung-chul, will take the stage at the book fair.

Overseas authors attending include Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Sympathizer," Korean-American novelist Kim Ju-hye, author of "Beasts of a Little Land," and French sociologist Nikolai Schulz.

Coinciding with the opening of the book fair, 20 types of limited editions will be released this year. The limited editions include writings by 15 authors?Kim Geum-hee, Kim Mella, Kim Hwa-jin, Oh Jung-hee, Jeong Ji-don, Ha Do-yeon (all novelists), Baek Eun-seon, Seo Yun-hoo, Seo Hyo-in, Seong Dong-hyeok, Yang Anda, Oh Eun, Lee So-ho (all poets), Park Hye-jin (critic), and Lim So-yeon (science and technology scholar)?along with nine illustrations by artists selected for the 2022 Seoul International Book Fair’s "Summer Drawing."

If tickets are purchased online by June 13, the day before the event, they can be bought at a 30% discount.

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