Park Seolyeon for Capitalists Must Starve

Winner of Hankyoreh Literature Award 

'Hur’s taut, masterful translation wisely refuses to pander to what anglophone readers might not know, but maintains the brittle tension of Seolyeon’s spare prose, and brilliantly succeeds in conjuring a time, a place and a movement and a pioneering activist who became a catalyst for change from within her cell.' - The Irish Times

Join us to celebrate the latest from the brilliant Park Seolyeon, Capitalists Must Starve, translated from Korean by Anton Hur.

Set against the backdrop of Japanese-occupied Korea, Capitalists Must Starve follows a sharp-tongued, big-hearted heroine who dares to love, rebel, and carve out space for working-class women in a world determined to silence them. Echoing the unflinching narratives of Alias Grace and the sweeping historical vision of Pachinko, this feminist historical novel balances raw grit with unexpected tenderness and a defiant streak of dark humour.

It's a stirring portrait of resistance from below: fierce, funny, and full of fight.

Born in 1989 in Cherwon, Park Seolyeon made her debut winning the Silcheon Munhak New Writers Prize in 2015 for her short story “Mickey Mouse Club.” Her books include the novels The Job of Marta, The Shirley Club, A Magical Girl Retires, Project V and Capitalists Must Starve, which won the 2018 Hankyoreh Literature Prize, as well as the story collections My Hormones Made Me Do It, Your Mom’s the Better Player, and Me, Me, Madeline. Her stories have been translated into Japanese, French, German, and English. She lives in Seoul, South Korea.