▲ This undated EPA file photo shows Nobel Prize-winning South Korean novelist Han Kang. (Yonhap)

Han Kang-US prize

Han Kang's 'We Do Not Part' shortlisted for NBCC Awards

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- "We Do Not Part," a novel by Nobel Prize-winning South Korean author Han Kang, has been selected as a finalist for the 2025 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards in the United States.

The English translation of the book was named Tuesday (U.S. time) as one of five contenders in the fiction category by the NBCC, an American nonprofit association.

The annual awards recognize outstanding books published in English across six categories: fiction, nonfiction, biography, autobiography, poetry and criticism.

First published in Korean in 2021, the novel is set during the 1948 people's uprising on Jeju Island. The English edition was translated by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris.

The Jeju uprising was initially sparked by grievances over the U.S. military-led administration following Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule. It subsequently spread, leading to a brutal government crackdown that killed an estimated 14,000 to 30,000 civilians, marking one of the bloodiest episodes in Korean history.

Kim Hye-soon became the first Korean to win an NBCC award in 2024, when she was honored in the poetry category for the English translation of her collection "Phantom Pain Wings."

The winners of the 2025 awards will be announced on March 26.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]