The novel "Wizard Bakery" by Korean author Gu Byeong-mo has been making waves across Mexican social media outlets.

The novel, translated as "La Panaderia Encantada" in Spanish, was published last December by Nostra Ediciones, a local publisher that specializes in children's books and young adult literature. An unprecedented 10,000 copies of the first edition were sold.

After a short trailer for the novel published on YouTube caught the attention of Mexican teenagers, reviews and recommendations for the novel went viral across social media. The novel has since gained quite a following among young adult readers in Mexico.

Teenagers who had previously only known about Korea through K-pop have described the novel as a "book for all ages" and as "the most powerful book of the year." Online reviews of the book published in more than 30 blog posts have over 50 comments, and YouTube videos about the work currently have over 1,000 views.



In the novel, a boy falsely accused of a wrongdoing runs away from home and walks into a bakery that turns out to be a portal into a magical world. Mauricio Volpi, head of Nostra Ediciones, believes that Mexican teenagers, who were already entranced by the fantasy of K-pop, responded well to the literary dimension of Korean fantasy fiction. Volpi plans to introduce more Korean literature for children and young adults into the Mexican market. In preparation for the Guadalajara Book Fair scheduled for November this year, the publishing house is getting ready for the release of "The Barnyard Duck That Flew Away to the Sky" by Lee Sang-kwon and "The Bad Kid Stickers" by Hwang Sun-mi.

Irma Zyanya, the translator of the novel, majored in English Literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and then studied Korean literary translation at the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. She said that in translating the work, she wanted to share a piece of the Korean imagination with Mexican youth.

An English translation of the novel is currently in the works. Japanese and German translations will soon follow.

By Wi Tack-whan, Lee Hana
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photo: Literature Translation Institute of Korea
whan23@korea.kr


1.
http://divergentemexico.blogspot.kr/2016/02/resena-panaderia-encantada-de-koo-byung.html
"As the first Korean novel I had read, 'The Wizard Bakery' really captivated me. It's an amazing story for adults and children alike."

2.
http://calderoliterario7.blogspot.kr/2016/01/resena-27-enero-la-panaderia-encantada.html
"I had actually never read a novel written by an Asian author, let alone a Korean one. I've never had a conversation with a Korea person before, but I was immediately drawn to the novel. I would like to read more books by Korean authors. I highly recommend this book."

3.
http://vitaminaluu.blogspot.kr/2016/02/la-panaderia-encantada.html
"I loved this book! The subject matter, the conversations, the choice of words, they all give you a strong impression. As one of the best books I've read all year, I highly recommend this book."

4.
http://librospalabanda.blogspot.kr/2016/02/resena-la-panaderia-encantada.html
"I didn't know what the book was about but the book's cover piqued my interest. Once I cracked it open, I was hooked. I was mesmerized by my first experience reading a novel by an Asian author."