Novelists Kim Bo-young, Park Seo-ryun and Dol Gi-min will take part in Les Utopiales International Science Fiction Festival in Nantes, France, from the 29th through Nov. 2, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea said.
Les Utopiales is Europe's largest science fiction event, spanning literature, science, film, comics and games. Last year, about 150,000 people visited its exhibitions, talks and performances. This year, roughly 280 writers, translators and scientists will join 124 scheduled programs.
The three writers will appear in seven programs, including one on Korean science fiction literature, at this year's festival, which is themed "Perspective." Kim has been invited again after taking part in 2023, a sign of strong local interest in Korean science fiction. The writers will share the stage with internationally prominent science fiction authors, including Robert Jackson Bennett, a winner of the Hugo Award, the field's most prestigious literary prize, and Audrey Pleynet, a winner of France's Prix Rosny aîné. The talks will cover otherness and the body, the relationship between nature and humans, the rationality of magic and the power of representation.
On Nov. 2, the writers will meet readers at the Librairie Nouveautés bookstore in Paris. The event will introduce the background and literary worlds of works published with support from the institute: Kim's "On the Origin of Species," Park's "Magical Girl Retires" and Dol's "Walking Practice."
Jeon Soo-yong, president of the institute, said the festival is "a meaningful occasion to show French readers the originality and expansiveness of Korean imaginative literature," adding, "We will work to ensure that a wide range of Korean literary works and voices continue to be introduced in France."