Jhumpa Lahiri, who at 46 has already won a Pulitzer Prize (for her first book, the 1999 story collection “Interpreter of Maladies”), and was recently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (for her new novel, “The Lowland”), does a number of things obviously well: Not one for literary gymnastics, she is a precisionist, a realist, not an ironist. She does not bend genre, slum among dystopias or gauge the state of the nation. A stern admirer of Thomas Hardy, Alice Munro and Mavis Gallant ― all of wh

Margaret Atwood, a master at creating clever names, is always on the lookout for more. Settling into a cafe chair on a gorgeous August morning in Manhattan’s Bryant Park, she points out a sandwich kiosk called Wichcraft.“I like that one,” she says. Gracious of her, since it pales in comparison with monikers of the fantastic creatures populating “MaddAddam,” the just-published conclusion to Atwood’s trilogy about a small band of humans ― and gentle humanoids ― trying to survive after a man-made p

Gaddafi’s Harem: The story of a Young Woman and the Abuses of Power in LibyaBy Annick Cojean (Grove Press) The first half of this deeply disturbing book is one woman’s account of how Moammar Gadhafi forced her, when she was barely 15, to become his sex slave, keeping her and other victims imprisoned for years. He summoned them to his bedchamber day and night, where he drugged them, beat them, raped them and sodomized them.The woman, Soraya, said that Gadhafi chose his victims by strolling throug

Korea’s biggest annual film festival opens in Busan today, featuring a total of 301 films, including 95 world premieres from 70 countries, and two highly anticipated directing debuts by prominent Korean actors.Part of the lineup of the Korean Cinema Today section are actor Ha Jung-woo’s (“Love Fiction,” “The Chaser”) directing debut “Fasten Your Seatbelt” and veteran actor Park Joong-hoon’s (“Nowhere to Hide,” “Radio Star”) directing debut “Top Star.”Ha’s “Fasten Your Seatbelt” is a comedy about

Director Hong Sang-soo’s latest film “Our Sunhi” has drawn 50,000 viewers in 19 days, a record for the filmmaker. According to the state-run Korean Film Council, Hong’s film, which belongs to the local diversity film chart ― a chart for indie and art house films released in fewer than 100 theaters nationwide ― topped 52,359 viewers as of Tuesday. In the local film industry, the 10,000-viewer mark for indie films is generally considered equivalent to the 1 million mark for a commercial film. “Our

Paju Book City, home to some 300 local publishing houses in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, is throwing its annual book-themed festival, focusing on Asian literature and authors this year. Dubbed “Paju Booksori,” the festival celebrates its third edition this year. The event, which opened Saturday, includes lectures, performances and exhibitions, featuring authors and publishers from home and abroad.One of the festival’s exhibitions features the life and works of Yi I (1536-1584), one of the most promi

Seoul’s Gangnam is hosting its annual month-long hallyu bash starting Thursday, presenting a K-pop concert, fashion shows and an international marathon for both expats and locals starting Thursday.Marking its seventh edition this year, the Gangnam Festival celebrates hallyu culture as well as a marathon that welcomes expats, foreign tourists and local residents to run together. Gangnam gained worldwide attention last year as Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion

One of the biggest performing arts festivals in Asia arrives in Seoul on Wednesday, featuring a total of 19 works from seven countries, including a play about late celebrated intellectual Susan Sontag (1933-2004). This year’s lineup for the annual Seoul Performing Arts Festival, celebrating its 13th edition, is filled with a number of cutting-edge, highly experimental works that blur the line between fantasy and reality. “SPAF 2013 aspires to encourage and inspire a new mode of creativity by inv

 As a kid, cartoonist and scholar Rhie Won-bok spent most of his time doodling alone.“In the 1950s, you only had two choices as a kid,” Rhie, now 66, tells The Korea Herald. “You either went outside and played with other kids, or stayed inside and found something to do. People were poor and we all didn’t have many things. Books were also very hard to find. I wasn’t a very active type, so I stayed inside and just doodled.”After many years of doodling, he started drawing random things. He drew a l

Throughout the last 33 years, Rhie Won-bok’s educational series “Far Countries, Near Countries” offered young Korean readers a glimpse into the culture and history of other countries. Yet the series’ volume on Korea is also a great introduction for people with no background knowledge on the country. Based on Rhie’s thorough research and keen observations, the book presents an insightful and sometimes hilarious analysis of Korean culture, society and its people. “I’ve received a number of invites

Don Jon’s a dog.He cares only about his car, his pad, his boys, his family, his gym, his church (Sundays only), girls and porn ― lots and lots of porn. That is, until he meets Ms. Right ― actually two Ms. Rights ― and his bro-licious world is turned upside down when he learns that women are people too.That’s the simple premise for “Don Jon,” the feature directorial/writing debut for actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but it’s handled with such a deft sense of humor and pathos that it transcends any rom

Author Choe In-ho, a literary legend whose works have been made into numerous movies and TV drama series, died of cancer on Wednesday, about seven months after the publication of his latest collection of essays, “Choe In-ho’s Life.” He was 68.Born in 1945 in Seoul, Choe is one of the very few Korean authors who started their writing careers as a teenager, along with Hwang Sok-yong. He made his literary debut at age 18, while attending Seoul High School, by winning a writing competition hosted by

In 2009, Samantha Geimer was watching the daytime talk show “The View” from her then-home in Hawaii when the panel took up the topic of her encounter at age 13 with director Roman Polanski. Polanski had just been arrested in Switzerland, more than three decades after the day in 1977 that changed both their lives.“It wasn’t rape-rape,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg said, setting off a firestorm of criticism. In fact, it was “rape-rape” by nearly any definition except the charge to which Polanski pleade

Nicholson Baker never meant to write a sequel to “The Anthologist.” And yet, he explains by phone from his home in Maine, the narrator of that 2010 novel, a poet named Paul Chowder, kept demanding to be heard.“It was more a refusal,” Baker notes, “a refusal on Paul’s part to be overlooked. I was writing a different book, in my own voice, and I kept slipping into his voice. At a certain point, I just gave in.”Baker’s new novel, “Traveling Sprinkler” (Blue Rider), picks up Paul’s story a few years

A film about a famed shaman and her life intertwined with the tumultuous modern history will open this year’s DMZ Korean International Documentary Film Festival (DMZ Docs), the organizers announced on Tuesday.Written and directed by famed media artist and filmmaker Park Chan-kyong, the documentary film “Manshin: Ten Thousand Spirits” follows the tortuous life of Kim Guem-hwa, a well-known shaman in Korea. Born in 1931 in a rural town in Hwanghae Province, now in North Korea, Kim was often threat

A total of nine Indonesian films will get the festival treatment in Korea this week, including a biopic of Indonesia’s third president, Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie.The first Indonesia Film Festival kicks off in Korea on Thursday, co-presented by Korea’s major multiplex chain CJ CGV, Korean entertainment company CJ E&M, Indonesian chain of movie theaters Blitz Megaplex and Indonesian film distribution company Jive Entertainment. The film festival will be held in Seoul and Ansan, Gyeonggi Province,

A performance by a French-Canadian troupe will open the 16th Seoul International Dance Festival (SIDance), the nation’s largest annual dance bash, which kicks off Oct. 7.One of the most reputable genre showcases here, the event is presented by the local section of the International Dance Council CID-UNESCO. A total of 51 dance companies from 16 countries will present 51 works including some collaborations.For the festival’s opening performance, French-Canadian company Cas Public will present “Va

Chatty and bubbly in person, emerging New York-based musical singer Shin Hae-ji (Shawna Haeji Shin) reminds one of Glinda, the popular blond witch in “Wicked.”Yet the 27-year-old is playing a character that’s quite the opposite of Glinda in the U.S. next month. She is making her debut as Kim, the tragic heroine of the popular musical “Miss Saigon,” scheduled to premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Chicago on Oct. 30. After just starring in three shows ― “Rent a White Guy,” “Talent 101” and “King

Choreographer Ahn Ae-soon started ballet lessons when she was in elementary school, but her first dance performance as a young child almost traumatized her.“I had worked so hard, really hard,” Ahn, who was recently appointed to head Korea National Contemporary Dance Company, told The Korea Herald. “But then when I was on stage, I forgot everything that I had prepared. I could not perform at all. I was mortified. So I stopped going to lessons the next day.”Korea’s dance scene is fortunate that Ah

Dance“SIDance”: The annual Seoul International Dance Festival (SIDance) is returning in October, featuring a total of 51 dance companies from 16 countries. The opener this year is a performance by Canadian troupe Cas Public, with its stylish variation of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” Other invited troupes include France’s Cie Heddy Maalem, Finland’s Dance Theatre Auraco, and Italy’s Ambra Senatore. This year’s SIDance runs from Oct. 7 to 27 at Gangdong Arts Center, Seoul Art Center and Goyang A