By Jung Joo-ri and Yoon Sojung
Photos = Daesan Foundation

Novelist Hwang Sok-yong was awarded the 2018 Emile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature for his work “At Dusk.”

The Emile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature chose Hwang’s work as this year’s prize-winner and held an award ceremony at the national Guimet Museum of Asian Art in Paris on June 25.

The prize committee said that, "The novel portrays the construction, destruction, the existence and object in a detailed manner, which helps readers deeply understand the Korean soul, as well as the various sides of Asia that make endless changes.”

The Emile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature marks its second anniversary this year. The prize is offered by the national Guimet Museum of Asian Art and is given to works of literature every year that are written in Asian languages. The final nominees for this year’s prize included Meena Kandasamy of India, Kaho Nashiki from Japan, A Yi of China, Pakistan’s Omar Shahid Hamid and Wu Ming-Yi of Taiwan.

Hwang said in a written statement that, “I'm greatly honored and pleased to receive the prize, as it is awarded by the national Guimet Museum of Asian Art founded by Asian art devotee Emile Guimet.” He also said that the museum is where culture and the arts of Asia meet the Western world.

“At Dusk” is a story about a successful male architect in his 60s and a theater actress. The novel, originally published in 2015 in Korean, looks back on the past and present of modern Korean society.

The book was translated into French by Choi Mikyung, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, and by French translator Jean-Noel Juttet, and was published last year by French publisher Éditions Philippe Picquier.

Going back a few years, Hwang was also nominated for the Prix Femina for his book “The Guest” in 2004.

Currently, many of his books, including “The Shadow of Arms,” “The Ancient Garden” and “Princess Bari,” have all been translated into French and published in France.



etoilejr@korea.kr