In The Korea Times Chung Ah-young reports that Korean author joins top French literary series, as some of Lee Seung-u's work -- quite a bit of which has been translated into French -- has now appeared in Gallimard's pocket-book Folio-series; she goes so far as to suggest:
Lee Seung-u is, of course, not entirely unknown in English either -- indeed, The Reverse Side of Life is under review at the complete review.
Lee's recent Folio edition proves that he is more widely recognized in France than in Korea.And she notes:
Widely known for his interest in Korean literature, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, the 2008 Nobel Laureate for Literature, mentioned Lee Seung-u as a likely candidate for the prize, along with other Korean writers such as Anatoly A. Kim and Hwang Sok-yong.(Any Nobel-name-check list that includes Russian-writing Anatoly A. Kim -- pretty impressive. Note also that as a Nobel laureate Le Clézio is allowed to submit a nomination every year -- might he go the Korean route ?)
Lee Seung-u is, of course, not entirely unknown in English either -- indeed, The Reverse Side of Life is under review at the complete review.