Cheon Myeong-kwan's 'Gorae' Shortlisted for UK's Prestigious Booker Prize

2023 Booker Prize International Category First Round Nominees

Author Cheon Myeong-kwan has been nominated for the International Booker Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the UK.

On the 14th (local time), the Booker Prize website listed Cheon’s work Whale (2004) as a longlist candidate for the 2023 International Booker Prize. Kim Chi-young, the translator who translated this work into English, is also on the list.

The Booker Prize judging panel described Whale as "following the lives of three characters set in a remote Korean village," and "a satirical novel that reexamines the changes Korea underwent as it rapidly transitioned from a pre-modern to a post-modern society." About Cheon, they explained that he is "a Korean novelist, screenwriter, and director whose works have been translated into eight languages."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Born in 1964, Cheon is known for the novels Whale and My Uncle Bruce Lee. In his 30s, while working as a company employee, he joined a Chungmuro film company and wrote screenplays for films such as The Gunman. In 2003, at the age of 40, he debuted in literature by winning the Munhakdongne New Writer Award with his first short story, Frank and Me. Last year, he made his directorial debut with the noir film Hot Blood.

Last year, writer Jeong Bo-ra was a finalist for the International Booker Prize, and writer Park Sang-young was on the longlist. Han Kang won the Man Booker International Prize in 2016 for The Vegetarian. In 2018, she was a finalist in the International category with White.

This year’s longlist includes 12 works such as Ninth Building by Chinese author Zhou Jingzi, Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv by Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov, and The Gospel According to the New World by French author Maryse Cond?.

The six finalists will be announced on April 18. The winner will be revealed at the awards ceremony held in London on May 23.