SIBF 2025 18-22 June, 2025 l COEX Halls A & B1
Archive
Korean Literature under the International SpotlightㅣDirection of World Book Fairs amid PandemicㅣHow Are Bookstores Surviving in the Pandemic Age?ㅣRight Talk: Stories of Copyright Buyers
Korean Literature under the International Spotlight
Following Han Kang, who won the UK’s International Booker Prize for her novel The Vegetarian and Geum Suk Gendry-Kim, who earned the honor of Best International Book at the US Harvey Awards for her graphic novel Grass, poet Kim Hye-soon received the US Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize for her work with the poetry collection Autobiography of Death by Choi Don Mee. This session discusses the context that has enabled Korean literature, particularly genre works, to earn international attention and prestigious awards.
ㅣ Speaker: Brittany Dennison (Co-director of publishing at New Directions Publishing), Tracy Hurren (Managing editor of Drawn & Quarterly), Kristen Vida Alfaro (Publishing Director of Tilted Axis Press)
ㅣ Moderator: Jeong Gwa-ri (Literary Critic)
- Date/Time: June 1 (Wed) 12:30–14:00
- Location: Readers Hall 1
Direction of World Book Fairs amid Pandemic
Unlike the transition to online book fairs in 2020, several book events also organized offline events in 2021 despite numerous challenges posed along the way by the COVID-19 pandemic. This session is on what the world has learned during the two-year pandemic period, when it might end, and how book fairs around the world are preparing for the future.
ㅣ Speaker: Joo I-roo (President of the Seoul International Book Fair [Republid of Korea]), Juergen Boos (President of the Frankfurt Book Fair [Germany]), Andrés Sarmiento (Director of the Bogota International Book Fair [Colombia])
ㅣ Moderator: Cho Mun-young (Professor of anthropology at Yonsei University)
- Date/Time: June 2 (Thu) 12:30–14:00
- Location: Readers Hall 1
How Are Bookstores Surviving in the Pandemic Age?
The pandemic dealt a heavy blow to small bookstores that were already struggling against large book chains. People simply stopped going due to social distancing, and small stores were on the brink of collapse. Yet bookstores around the world fought back in their own ways. Three bookstores with benchmark cases of survival share their experiences on how they coped with the pandemic and stuck to their values.
ㅣ Speaker: Flora Tonking (Manager at Shakespeare & Company), Andreia Ferreira (Brand General manager of Livraria Lello), Kim Young-geon (Owner of Donga Bookstore)
ㅣ Moderator: Han So-beom (Journalist from Hankook Ilbo)
- Date/Time: June 2 (Thu) 14:30–16:00
- Location: Readers Hall 1
Right Talk: Stories of Copyright Buyers
This session is on issues surrounding copyright buyers based in Europe and Asia who have dealt with Korean book copyrights. They share their expertise in selling copyrights internationally and discuss making books more accessible to young readers, who are more accustomed to online content.
ㅣ Speaker: Marina Penalva (Spain/Literary Agent of Casanovas & Lynch), Mona Lang (Germany/Senior Editor of Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH & Co KG), Chiara Tognetti (Italy/Founder and Director of Chiara Tognetti Rights Agency), Ha Anh Hoang (Vietnam/Rights Executive of Thai Ha Books Joint Stock Company), Mohamed El-Baaly (Egypt/Director of Sefsafa Publishing & Culture)
- Date/Time: June 4 (Sat) 18:30–20:00
- Location: Readers Hall 1
