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| "Cursed Bunny" author Chung Bora, right, and translator Anton Hur attend a press conference in Seoul, April 14. Newsis |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
"Cursed Bunny," written by Chung Bora and translated by Anton Hur, failed to win this year's International Booker Prize, one of three largest literary awards in the world.
The prestigious award went instead to "Tomb of Sand," written by Geentanjali Shree and translated by Daisy Rockwell, according to the Booker Prize Foundation on Thursday. Shree became the first Indian author to win the international prize.
"Cursed Bunny" is a genre-defying collection of 10 short stories, one that can be best described as a gripping amalgamation of absurdist tales that draw on science fiction, horror and fantasy. The English version of Chung's novel was among the six works shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, which was established in 2005 to honor the author and translator equally for a single work of fiction translated into English.
The other books on the shortlist included "The Books of Jacob" written by Olga Tokarczuk and translated from Polish by Crogy, "A New Name: Septology VI-VII" written by Jon Fosse and translated from Norwegian by Damion Searls, "Heaven" written by Mieka Kawakami and translated from Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd and "Elena Knows" written by Claudia Pineiro and translated from Spanish by Frances Riddle.
"Now I'm just relieved that I've got plenty of time to meet deadlines for impending projects. I think the six finalists were under some pressure as if we were each representing our own countries. I appreciate what Shree said in her acceptance speech that this is not about competing," Chung said in a statement.
"I will continue to write stories to express and convey the values that I believe in, not to win a prize or please readers."
Hur stressed that translators deserve praise for their outstanding contributions, as they play a major role in increasing the global visibility of Korean literature.
"I can't believe we made it this far. I hope this will embed a culture where translators get more recognition," he said.
In 2016, an English translation by Deborah Smith of Han Kang's "The Vegetarian" became the first Korean winner of the International Booker Prize. Her "The White Book" also translated by Smith was shortlisted for the award again in 2018, while Hwang Sok-yong's "At Dusk" translated by Sora Kim-Russell was included on the prize's long list the following year.
