“If there is a message in any of my stories, the emotion is the message that I’m trying to convey. That the world can be a funny place, a scary place, an absurd place, and human beings are capable of feeling all the spectrum of all the colours of all the emotions. Maybe at the same time too.” - Bora Chung
With its unique blend of horror, speculative fiction and folklore, Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny explores the cruelties and violence of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society. The chilling short story collection garnered international acclaim, was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and won the PEN/HEIM Translation Grant, marking Chung as a global star of contemporary South Korean literature.
Appearing in Melbourne for the first time, Chung joined Paige Clark in conversation to share the process of creating Cursed Bunny, the intricacies of translation, and the use of horror and speculative fiction to expose the weirdness of societal forces and the power they exert.
This event was supported by the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund, a Victorian Government and City of Melbourne partnership.
It was recorded on Wednesday 17 May 2023 at the Wheeler Centre as part of World of Words.
The bookseller was Amplify Bookstore.