[Chungmuro Book Cafe] Im Miye, Jeong Serang, Son Wonpyeong... The Golden Age of Female Writers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The year-end is approaching, as evidenced by the appearance of books titled 2021. The Korean novel market is showing signs of revival after a long time. Novels by young female writers such as Im I-mye, Jeong Se-rang, and Son Won-pyeong have entered the rankings in large numbers.

Asia Economy Newspaper selected bestsellers based on book sales from the 14th to the 20th of last month. The comprehensive bestseller rankings were compiled by referencing sales rankings from major online and offline bookstores such as Kyobo Bookstore, Interpark, and Yes24, combined with ratings from Asia Economy reporters.

"Trend Korea 2021" by Professor Kim Nan-do of the Consumer Science Department at Seoul National University’s College of Human Ecology topped the charts immediately after publication. Since 2007, Professor Kim has been publishing the Trend Korea series annually, proposing the top 10 consumer trend keywords. Each year, the book becomes a hot topic, reaching number one on bestseller lists as soon as it is released. With the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), consumer spending has sharply contracted this year, and interest in "Trend Korea 2021" was higher than ever.

The first keyword Professor Kim proposed for 2021 is "V-nomics," a combination of the letter V from Virus and Economics. He predicted that a V-shaped economic recovery would be difficult after COVID-19. Moreover, he noted that the untact (contactless) trend, which his research team identified as a keyword in 2018, has accelerated due to the spread of COVID-19, and he forecasted that economic recovery would vary by industry after the pandemic.

The strong performance of novels, which had been subdued for a long time, is noticeable. Before the publication of "Trend Korea 2021," at the beginning of this month, Kyobo Bookstore’s data showed Jeong Se-rang’s novel "The School Nurse Files" ranking first on the bestseller list. This is the first time since 2017, when Kim Young-ha’s "The Plotters" topped the Kyobo Bookstore bestseller list, that a Korean novel has reached number one.

"The School Nurse Files" gained attention as it was adapted into a Netflix drama, which was released on the 25th of last month. The original novel was published in 2015. It was initially serialized in a webzine before being published as a book. Last month, alongside the drama release, a special 5th-anniversary re-cover edition was also published. In the Asia Economy bestseller rankings, it was third in early October and ranked eighth this time.

Im I-mye’s "Dollar Gut Dream Department Store," ranked third, was published as a print book after gaining attention through e-books and independent publications, thanks to word of mouth from readers. It is also notable that both popular novels, which are gaining traction amid the stifling reality of COVID-19, belong to the fantasy genre.

Son Won-pyeong’s "Almond," which topped the Asia Economy bestseller list announced on September 18, has lost momentum and dropped to tenth place.

With "John Lee’s Escape from Financial Illiteracy" newly entering the bestseller list, John Lee, CEO of Meritz Asset Management, has become an author who published two bestsellers this year. His earlier bestseller, "John Lee’s Habits for Becoming Rich," recently released a re-cover edition commemorating sales of 200,000 copies.

The fourth-ranked "My Day Starts at 4:30 AM" has attracted renewed attention after it was revealed that the author, lawyer Kim Yoo-jin, passed the bar exams in two U.S. states.

Seventh-ranked poet Ryu Si-hwa’s poetry collection "Mindfulness Poems" benefited from the Nobel Prize effect. The poetry collection of Louise Gl?ck, the American poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature this year, has not yet been translated or published in Korea. In this context, "Mindfulness Poems" gained attention for featuring Gl?ck’s poem "Snowdrops." Poet Ryu had also introduced Gl?ck’s poem "Lament" in his 2018 publication "Kidnapped by Poetry."