Han Kang to release first book since receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature

Also next week here in Korea.

Author Han Kang's first publication after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature last December is set to hit local stores on Thursday.

Lee Eun-jin has more.

Nobel Prize-winning South Korean author Han Kang will be publishing a new book not a novel this time, but a book of essays.

The collection is expected to feature about 10 pieces, including her Nobel lecture, previously published poems, and diary-like essays that reflect on her experiences with poetry, gardening, and the act of writing itself.

According to the publisher Moonji Publishing, some of the content will be previously released works from literary magazines, but roughly half of the new book will be first-time publications.

Taken from her Nobel lecture, the book titled "Light and Thread" is one she has been preparing for over a year.

"What is love? It is the gold thread connecting between our hearts. Inside my chest, in my beating heart. Between our hearts. The golden thread that joins – a thread that emanates light."

This will be Han's third essay collection since her first in 2003.

Meanwhile, she is also progressing with her next novel a long-awaited final installment of her so-called "Winter Trilogy" to follow her 2015 "While a Single Snowflake Melts" and 2018 "Farewell" short stories.

That novel is expected to be released as early as later this year.

"There are authors that write until they are 70 or 80. But that requires a lot of luck. For the next 6 years, I want to focus on writing these three books that have been rolling in my head."

After receiving her Nobel Prize, Han Kang has rejected public appearances to focus on her writing.

Even with the latest release of her essay collection, which is set to be available in bookstores April 24th,

she is not expected to give interviews or hold any events to promote it.

Lee Eunjin, Arirang News.