London Book Fair 2025 / Captured from Instagram

Renowned Korean writers, including novelist Gu Byeong-mo and award-winning children's book author Choi Yeon-ju, will be featured at this year’s London Book Fair, building on growing global interest in Korean literature.

Cover of "Cut Wound" by Gu Byeong-mo / Courtesy of Munhakdongne Publishing Group

The Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA) will operate the Korean booth at the event, where 10 Korean publishers will promote their own titles and the agency will showcase 101 additional books entrusted to it for overseas rights promotion. The fair runs from Tuesday through Thursday (local time).

Munhakdongne will seek international publication deals for Gu's novel "Cut Wound," published last year. The book follows a woman who can read people’s memories and emotions by touching their wounds. The story unfolds after she encounters a businessman who seeks to exploit her unusual ability. The novel is currently a bestseller in Korea and recently won both the Kim You Jeong Newcomer Literary Award and the Hahn Moo-sook Literary Prize.

Choi Yeon-ju’s “Mo Story” (2023) depicts the journey of a kitten through a forest and the process of building courage. The book has already gained readers in the French-speaking world and won an award at Le Prix Sorcières in France last year.

Cover of "Mo Story" by Choi Yeon-ju / Courtesy of atnoonbooks

Neo Books will promote "Yawning is Delicious" by Kang Ji-young, whose novel "The Murderer's Shopping Mall" was adapted into the Disney+ series "A Shop for Killers" in 2024. The new mystery thriller is about a crime scene cleaner who discovers the diary of a deceased would-be celebrity.

The booth will also feature the works of Lee Geum-yi, another renowned children’s book author who is shortlisted for the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award for her latest work, “Chasm of Sorrow.” The title is the final installment in Yi's diaspora trilogy, which follows Koreans who migrated to the Russian island of Sakhalin during the late Japanese colonial period.

Cover of "Chasm of Sorrow" by Lee Geum-yi / Courtesy of Sakyejul

Source: Korea Times News