Recitation
Bae Suah, Deborah Smith (translation)“A challenging yet cognitively engaging & rewarding read.” —David Cooper, The New York Journal of Books
"Bae Suah offers the chance to unknow—to see the everyday afresh & be defamiliarized with what we believe we know—which is no small offering." —Sophie Hughes, Music & Literature
“It’s beautiful to read, with the flowing monologues, excellently written, allowing you to lose yourself in the text.” —Tony Malone, Tony's Reading List
The meeting between a group of emigrants & a mysterious, wandering actress in an empty train station sets the stage for Bae Suah's fragmentary yet lyrical meditation on language, travel, & memory. As the actress recounts the fascinating story of her stateless existence, an unreliable narrator & the interruptions of her audience challenge traditional notions of storytelling & identity.
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Bae Suah, one of the most highly acclaimed contemporary Korean authors, has published more than a dozen works & won several prestigious awards. She has also translated several books from the German, including works by W. G. Sebald, Franz Kafka, & Jenny Erpenbeck. Her first book to appear in English, Nowhere to be Found, was longlisted for a PEN Translation Prize & the Best Translated Book Award.
Deborah Smith’s literary translations from the Korean include two novels by Han Kang (The Vegetarian & Human Acts), & two by Bae Suah (A Greater Music & Recitation). She also recently founded Tilted Axis Press to bring more works from Africa, Asia, & the Middle East into English.