South East Asia

  • The Freedom and Right to Share Our Stories: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai on Decolonising Literature

    The Freedom and Right to Share Our Stories: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai on Decolonising Literature

    Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai on decolonising literature about Việt Nam by writing in the language of the coloniser.

  • How Korean it is

    Deborah Smith writes for PEN Atlas about the complex experience of bringing a hit South Korean novel to an English-speaking audience

  • Publishers' translation highlights 2015

    Halt your book purchases: PEN Atlas has everything you need

  • Publishers’ translation highlights 2015

    Halt your book purchases: PEN Atlas has everything you need

  • Yule love these books in translation 2014

    Roasting chestnuts on an open fire, taking the first whiff of mulled wine, and cracking open a great work of literature in translation: find your stocking-filler or winter-cheerer with these recommendations

  • My Literary Form(s)

    In the run-up to London Book Fair 2014, where Korea is the market focus, Han Kang writes about women that turn into plants, the intuitive process in choosing between prose and poetry, and what the future holds for her writing

  • The suffering healers

    Ahead of his appearances with English PEN at the Free Word Centre and London Book Fair 2014, Hwang Sok-Yong takes us into the shamanistic past of Korean culture

  • Capturing the mood

    In the run-up to the London Book Fair 2014, where South Korea is the market focus, we have the first in a series of pieces from the region: today Chi Young-Kim writes about the varied places translators go to, from baseball blogs to animal fables, when transporting the reader into the world of the novel

  • Publishers’ highlights in 2014: part 1

    This week PEN Atlas asks UK publishers about the translated books they are excited about publishing in 2014 – an intriguing list of books to look forward to this year, so clear your bookshelves! Publishers include Pushkin Press, Peirene, Doubleday, Istros Books and more…

  • Publishers' highlights in 2014: part 1

    This week PEN Atlas asks UK publishers about the translated books they are excited about publishing in 2014 – an intriguing list of books to look forward to this year, so clear your bookshelves! Publishers include Pushkin Press, Peirene, Doubleday, Istros Books and more…

  • The hidden languages of Burma

    Following recent political reforms, Lucas Stewart investigates the impact on writers in the country, and whether there is real change in the air for ethnic literature and languages

  • Way to an unknown world

    ​Krys Lee reports for PEN Atlas from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where she appeared on the panel ‘New American Voices’. For even more on the festival, please see Daniel Hahn’s piece

  • Women Writers, Part I

    PEN Atlas contributor Krys Lee considers the impact of Kyung-sook Shin’s Man Asian Literary Prize win and where Korean women writers stand today

  • What We Don't Know About North Korea

    This week’s PEN Atlas despatch comes from Krys Lee, who takes a look at the literature from (and about) North Korea

  • What We Don’t Know About North Korea

    This week’s PEN Atlas despatch comes from Krys Lee, who takes a look at the literature from (and about) North Korea