Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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[Kim Seong-kon] Democracy and the future of South Korea
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Seoul says Fu Bao loan 'not going to happen'
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Barack, Michelle Obama sign bumper book deal: publisher
New York based publisher Penguin Random House has won the industry's most coveted contract: a two-for-one deal to produce the memoirs of former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama."The company has acquired world publication rights for two books, to be written by President and Mrs Obama respectively," the publisher said in a statement.Bidding for the high-profile double book deal topped $60 million, a record sum for US presidential memoirs, according to the Financial Times. (AFP)
March 1, 2017
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Playwright who inspired ‘Moonlight’ wins PEN award
The playwright who inspired the Oscar-nominated movie “Moonlight” has won a prize from PEN America, the literary and human rights organization.Tarell Alvin McCraney received an award for best midcareer playwright, PEN announced Wednesday. McCraney’s “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” is the basis for the acclaimed movie drama, which is up for eight nominations at Sunday night’s Academy Awards. McCraney is also known for his acclaimed “The Brother/Sister” trilogy.Suzan-Lori Parks, winner of the
Feb. 23, 2017
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Books on conservatism and rural whites up for Lukas Prize
Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money” and Zachary Roth’s “The Great Suppression” are among several works about the modern conservative movement and rural whites that are on the short list for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize.Other nominees announced Tuesday are Arlie Russell Hochschild’s “Strangers in Their Own Land,” Nancy Isenberg’s “White Trash” and Gary Younge’s “Another Day in the Death of America.” The $10,000 prize is named for the late investigative journalist whose books included the Pulitzer Prize-
Feb. 22, 2017
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Diaz, Nguyen contributing to book about age of Trump
Pulitzer Prize winners Junot Diaz, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Jane Smiley are among 32 writers contributing to a book of letters responding to the election of President Donald Trump.Vintage Books told The Associated Press on Monday that “Radical Hope: Letters of Love and Dissent in Dangerous Times” will be published on May 2 as a paperback original. The book will be divided into three sections. “Roots” will explore the historical origins of this time. “Present” will feature letters addressed to conte
Feb. 14, 2017
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Margaret Atwood says Trump win boosted sales of her dystopian classic
Canada‘s best-known writer Margaret Atwood said it was largely worries about women’s issues after the US election that made her book “The Handmaid’s Tale” the latest dystopian novel to shoot back up best-seller lists.The book, about a theocratic dictatorship in the United States where women are forced to bear children for the ruling class, topped Amazon’s best-seller list earlier last week.In an interview during Cuba‘s international book fair, where Canada is guest of honor, Atwood said sales of
Feb. 13, 2017
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Stephen King and son Owen King to team up at book convention
NEW YORK (AP) -- This year’s BookExpo will feature a popular father-and-son combination: Stephen and Owen King. Convention organizers ReedPop told the Associated Press on Tuesday that the authors will be featured at a June 1 breakfast at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. They will be promoting “Sleeping Beauties,” a novel they worked on together. Other scheduled speakers at the event, hosted by comedian-actress Whitney Cummings, are astronaut Scott Kelly, “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris and
Feb. 8, 2017
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UK newspaper to spotlight Korean poems in regular feature
Korean poems will become a regular feature in the Guardian newspaper this year.The poems -- selected in partnership with Asymptote, a website specializing in translations of literature -- will be featured on the “Translation Tuesdays” corner of the British daily. The works of seven Korean poets, including Kim Ki-taek, Moon Tae-jun, Yoo An-jin and Choi Seung-ja, will be introduced this year, according to the Literature Translation Institute of Korea which jointly manages the project with Asymptot
Feb. 7, 2017
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New book details old New Orleans’ hooker directories
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- “Josie came to this city ... to have a good time and she is going to have it while she lasts,” one madam advertised in a 1903 directory of Storyville, then New Orleans’ flourishing legal red-light district.It’s the ads that add interest to the pocket-sized directories sold a century ago for 25 cents, Pamela D. Arceneaux writes in “Guidebooks to Sin: The Blue Books of Storyville, New Orleans.” The $50 coffee-table book will be released Saturday by The Historic New Orleans Coll
Feb. 5, 2017
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Coelho, local authors slam books seizure in east Libya
TRIPOLI (AFP) - Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho joined more than 100 Libyan writers and intellectuals Monday in condemning security forces for seizing books deemed “erotic” or anti-Islamic.Coelho’s books were among those seized by authorities in the eastern Libyan town of Marj over the weekend.Security forces there published a video on Facebook over the weekend showing dozens of books imported from Egypt that were seized from a truck heading from Tobruk to Benghazi.“Contacting the Brazilian emba
Jan. 25, 2017
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Tips on using newspapers to learn English
“English Learning Tips Based on English Newspapers ENIE” by Yang Sung-jin; Surprise Publishing (272 pages, 15,000 won) English newspapers in South Korea have a long history. The Korea Herald, for instance, was founded in 1953. With English increasingly playing the role of an international language and mobile phones offering constant access to a vast amount of information, the number of those who can read and absorb news in English is on the rise.But for many Korean learners of English, newspaper
Jan. 23, 2017
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Book spurs rising above theological comfort zone
Evangelical Christians and reform-minded Protestants have reason to celebrate the recent publication of “Thinking the Think,” a book that critically engages their cherished beliefs and encourages them to live closer to the Bible. Written by Senior Pastor Lee Jae-hoon of Onnuri Church in Seoul, the 193-page book marks the fifth centennial of Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation in 1517, and introspects the beliefs and practices that dominate Christian lives today.Interwoven in a diverse spread
Jan. 20, 2017
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Korean novelist evokes horrors of Gwangju massacre
“Human Acts: A Novel” by Han Kang; Hogarth (224 pages, $22)In May of 1980, the South Korean government turned its guns on its own people, murdering hundreds in the city of Gwangju who had been protesting a military coup and the continuation of martial law.In “Human Acts,” Korean writer Han Kang -- winner of the Man Booker International Prize -- gives us their story, presented in this short novel through seven interwoven vignettes featuring characters who either died in Gwangju in 1980 or are now
Jan. 20, 2017
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Audiobooks boom in digital, multitasking age
NEW YORK (AFP) -- Curling up with a paperback may be a forgotten luxury for many thanks to today’s busy lifestyles, but listening to a book on the go, while shopping or jogging, is fast becoming the new norm.Gone are the cumbersome cassette sets that could cost three times as much as an old-fashioned book and often featured only excerpts to cut down on costs.Now, audiobooks are just a click away and can be uploaded onto a smartphone for the same, if not lower, price as the print edition.Mary Bet
Jan. 19, 2017
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‘Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films’ Review -- Molly Haskell trains her keen eye on the director
“Steven Spielberg: A Life in Films” By Molly HaskellYale University Press (228 pages, $25)Film critics are not usually celebrated for their sense of charity. They’re not usually celebrated at all, actually. But the celebrated Molly Haskell is not your usual film critic, and she commits the first of her many acts of kindness toward Steven Spielberg in the very title of her new biography.“A Life in Films”? Not “A Life in Movies”? It’s a distinction that means something. It certainly would mean som
Jan. 13, 2017
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Korean edition of Playboy to be launched in June
US magazine “Playboy” will start issuing a Korean version from June, a South Korean magazine publisher said Tuesday.Playboy Enterprises, the owner of the magazine, has signed a contract with Korea’s Kaya Media Corp. to publish the 63-year-old magazine here. Kaya Media also publishes fashion magazines Marie Claire and Esquire.The Korean edition will cover a wide range of topics including celebrities, social and political issues as well as lifestyle. The US magazine was launched in December 1953 b
Jan. 11, 2017
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Korean poet Ko Un to be honored by Italy's Fondazione Roma
Poet Ko Un will receive an award from Italy-based Fondazione Roma, Changbi Publishers said Wednesday.According to the publisher, the poet was chosen as the recipient of the annual award presented to an international poet at the foundation’s “Ritratti di Poesia” international poetry festival. Ko Un (Changbi Publishers)Previous laureates include Carol Ann Duffy of the UK, Jacobo Cortines of Spain and Adam Zagajewski of Poland. Ko will receive the award at a ceremony to be held Feb. 3. The poetry
Jan. 11, 2017
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Julia Baird's biography gives the English monarch a beating heart
“Victoria the Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire” by Julia Baird; Random House (696 pages, $35)Queen Victoria dominated an age and inspired a word, “Victorian,” to capture the spirit of her time. We tend to see her as a prisoner of that age: dour, unsmiling, repressed; in short, rather Victorian. Julia Baird wants to liberate her from that straitjacket.In her zestful biography, “Victoria the Queen,” Baird, an Australian journalist and columnist for the International Ne
Jan. 4, 2017
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David Bowie interview collection shows man behind legend
Tributes lie beneath a mural of singer David Bowie by artist Jimmy C in Brixton, south London on Jan. 12, last year. (AP-Yonhap)“David Bowie: The Last Interview and Other Conversations” by David Bowie; Melville House (208 pages, $16.99)The introduction of “David Bowie: The Last Interview and Other Conversations” begins: “David Bowie gave a lot of interviews ... until he didn‘t.”Quirky, well-spoken and charming, the iconic music legend who died of cancer in January at 69 left behind a trove of in
Jan. 4, 2017
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Beloved bookstore opens after 14 years, but it isn’t the same
Standing six stories high at the center of downtown Seoul, Jongno Books was Korea’s first multilevel bookstore, established in 1907. It was a haven for writers and thinkers, offering not only Korean books of every kind but also English and Japanese publications, rare in Korea at the time. Stationery and music albums lined a corner of the fourth and fifth floors. It was also the first place to offer fixed prices for books. Businessmen from nearby offices and students would browse for hours; frien
Dec. 28, 2016
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Korea’s oldest bookstore to relaunch in Seoul
Korea’s oldest bookstore will be brought back to life 14 years after its closing, local publishers said Thursday.Jongno Books, more commonly known as Jongno Seojeok, will relaunch Friday at Seoul’s Jongno intersection, according to book publishing officials. Under a different mother company and management, the new store will replace the Jongno Tower branch of bookstore chain Bandi & Lunis. A former executive of Youngpoong Bookstore, a Korean bookstore chain, will take the helm of the new store.
Dec. 22, 2016