Park Sang-young's ‘Love in the Big City’ nominated for French literary award

Park Sang-young (Changbi Publishers)

South Korean author Park Sang-young's "Love in the Big City" has been longlisted for the Prix Medicis etranger, one of France's major literary awards for foreign-language novels translated into French, alongside the Goncourt, Prix Femina and Renaudot.

The French edition of "Love in the Big City" ("S'aimer dans la grande ville" in French) is among 14 titles nominated for the first round of this year’s prize.

The novel, which follows a Korean queer male student's search for happiness as he navigates life, friendship and love in bustling Seoul, was originally published in Korean in 2019 by Changbi Publishers.

Last year, International Booker-winning novelist Han Kang became the first Korean author to win the same award for her latest novel, "I Do Not Bid Farewell" ("Impossibles adieux" in French), which explores the tragic events of the Jeju April 3 Incident, an uprising followed by suppression leading to the massacre of at least 25,000 people in the late 1940s and early 1950s, through the eyes of three women.

From left, the French, English and Korean editions of "Love in the Big City" (La Croisee, Grove Press and Changbi Publishers)

“Love in the Big City” was translated into French by Kyungran Choi and Pierre Bisiou, who also co-translated Han’s award-winning work.

The English edition of Park’s novel (translated by Anton Hur) was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022. The French edition was released in August this year.

A Korean film adaptation starring Kim Go-eun is set for release on Oct. 2, and another drama series, with the screenplay written by Park himself, will soon be available on Tving on Oct. 21.

The shortlist for the Prix Medicis will be revealed on Oct. 9, with the winner announced on Nov. 6.

By Hwang Dong-hee(hwangdh@heraldcorp.com)