Born in Gwangju, South Korea, Han Kang is the daughter of author Han Seung-won and the sister of writer Han Dong Rim. She studied literature at Yonsei University before attending the University of Iowa's International Writing Program.
Her first published work was in 1993 when five poems were included in the winter issue of Munhak-gwa-sahoe (Literature and Society). The following year she won a literary contest in Seoul for her story Red Anchor. She is the author of a number of short story collections, novellas and eight novels.
Han Kang is the first South Korean author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and only the 18th woman.
Let's take a look at her novels which have been translated into English.
Originally published in 2007, it was translated by Deborah Smith and published in English in 2015. Set in modern day Seoul, The Vegetarian tells the story of a woman who decides to stop eating meat after having a nightmare which includes images of animal slaughter. Abstaining from meat causes a distance between herself and her family. Composed in three parts, each has a different narrator exploring the woman's rebellion.
Originally published in 2014 as A Boy is Coming, it was translated by Deborah Smith and published in English in 2016 as Human Acts. This novel is about the 1980 Gwangju massacre in which the military brutally suppressed an uprising killing an estimated 2300 people. The uprising was in response to the coup d'état which saw Chun Doo-hwan installed as dictator and martial law imposed. The novel follows victims and the bereaved as they try and make sense of the brutality.
Originally published in 2016 as White, it was translated by Deborah Smith and published in English in 2017 as The White Book. In this novel, the unnamed narrator is on writers residency in Warsaw. She meditates on the colour white to make sense of her older sister's death. White is a recurring theme which she uses to explore grief.
Greek Lessons (2023)
Originally published in 2011 as Greek Time, it was translated by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won and published in English in 2023. A Greek language teacher is slowly losing his sight. He is drawn to a young woman in his class who tries to speak but has no voice. The two have both experienced tragedy which incapacitates them.
We Do Not Part (2025)
Originally published in 2021 as Don't Say Goodbye, this forthcoming novel was translated into English by Emily Yae Won and Paige Aniyah Morris. It is scheduled to be published in February 2025. We Do Not Part tells the story of a woman who travels to a friend's house in the countryside to care for her friend's pet bird while she is in hospital. While pet sitting, the woman discovers letters from the Jeju massacre in 1948.