South Korea’s Han Kang wins Nobel lit prize

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Han Kang has become the first South Korean author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life,” the Nobel committee said.

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This article was published 12/10/2024 (728 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Han Kang has become the first South Korean author to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life,” the Nobel committee said.

The 53-year-old Kang was announced as the winner on Oct. 10; she’s best-known for her novel The Vegetarian, originally published in Korean in 2007 and in English in 2016 — the year it won the International Booker Prize.

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Four authors with Manitoba connections have been named as finalists for the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Awards.

The short lists, announced Oct. 6, include Free Press columnist Niigaan Sinclair in the non-fiction category for his book Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre, a collection of essays looking at issues of reconciliation through a local lens.

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Also appearing on the non-fiction short list is Winnipeg-born Astra Taylor for The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart.

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In the poetry category, Winnipeg poet laureate Chimwemwe Undi’s debut collection Scientific Marvel is among the five finalists, as is Winnipeg-born, B.C.-based Brandi Bird’s debut The All + Flesh. Both collections were published by House of Anansi Press.

Awards are given in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, young people’s literature (text and illustrated) and translation categories in both English and French.

Winners in the 14 categories of the Governor General’s Literary Awards will be announced Nov. 13, with each of the winning authors receiving $25,000. For a complete list of finalists see ggbooks.ca.

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Acclaimed Winnipeg fantasy author S.M. Beiko brings the second instalment of The Brindlewatch Quintet to McNally Robinson Booksellers’ grant Park location on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Published on Oct. 8 by ECW Press, The Door in Lake Mallion is the follow-up to the debut in the series, The Stars of Mount Quixx, a finalist for the Arlene Barwin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy at this year’s Canadian Children’s Book Centre awards. The sequel sees Dunstan, who harbours ambitions of heading a chorus line, dumped into Lake Mallion by a group of classmates before passing through a door at the bottom of the lake to a magical realm.

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Longtime Winnipeg politician, cabinet minister and academic Lloyd Axworthy takes the stage at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to launch his new memoir Lloyd Axworthy: My Life in Politics, published this month by Sutherland House Books.

In his new book the former MLA, MP, Foreign Affairs minister and president of University of Winnipeg chronicles his early years, marching for civil rights in Alabama, life in government and some of the major projects in which he was involved.

Axworthy, also a member of the Order of Canada, will be joined in conversation by writer and educator Marjorie Anderson.

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The latest collection of writing by the late author (and longtime Winnipegger) Carol Shields features 50 pieces of new and previously uncollected essays, speeches and short stories, and launches Thursday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson’s Grant Park location.

The Canadian Shields: Stories and Essays by Carol Shields, published by University of Manitoba Press in September, was edited by Nora Foster Stovel, who also edited the posthumous Shields poetry collection The Collected Poetry of Carol Shields.

Stovel will be joined in conversation by University of Winnipeg English prof Mavis Reimer. For a review of The Canadian Shields see page G4 of this weekend’s books pages.

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The lone Winnipegger in contention for the 2024 Giller Prize didn’t make the short list for this year’s award.

Real Ones by katherena vermette had made the long list for the $100,000 prize, but wasn’t one of the five finalists announced on Oct. 9.

The authors remaining in contention are Éric Chacour for What I Know About You, Anne Fleming for Curiosities, Conor Kerr for Prairie Edge, Anne Michaels for Held and Deepa Rajagopalan for Peacocks of Instagram.

The winner will be announced in a ceremony to be broadcast on all CBC services on Nov. 18 at 9 p.m.

books@freepress.mb.ca

Ben Sigurdson

Ben Sigurdson
Literary editor, drinks writer

Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press‘s literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben.

In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press’s editing team before being posted online or published in print. It’s part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

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