At Yonhap Charles Montgomery has an interesting profile of a Forgotten literary pioneer decades ahead of his time, Kim Yong-ik:
Kim's career writing in English began in 1957 and spanned nearly four decades. He published one book of folk tales, six novels, dozens of short stories, two essays, one television show and one movie (in Korea). He was published in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Bazaar, Mademoiselle, and the Hudson Review among other magazines, had a book of short stories published, and was anthologized several times.So:
Why is it that this pioneer is forgotten ? It is because Kim advanced to the beat of his own drummer. In his early years as an author Kim wrote fiction that focused on Korea and Korean issues in a language whose speakers did not know of Korea and/or Korean issues. In his later career, always the iconoclast, Kim continued to stand alone, often refusing to identify himself as an Asian, Asian-American, or Korean-American writer.The only one of his books that appears to be readily available is The Diving Gourd (as a ridiculously expensive reprint); get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.