Korean Book Club - “ A Magical Girl Retires ”, PARK Seolyeon
Discover Korean literature and explore its various themes in KCC's monthly Korean Book Club.
For the first book club meeting of this Fall, we are going to discuss the novel “A Magical Girl Retires” by PARK Seolyeon.
▪ Language: English
▪ Date: Thursday, October 17, 18h30-20h00
▪ Venue: Korean Cultural Center
▪ Entrance Free - Application is necessary*
To apply, please send an application e-mail to info@kccbrussels.be with your first name, last name, and telephone number.
Participants can easily find a copy of “A Magical Girl Retires” at Waterstones (Boulevard Adolphe Maxlaan 71-75, Brussels, 1000).
For more info: https://www.waterstones.com/bookshops/brussels
About the book – « A Magical Girl Retires»
Published by Harper Collins Publishers
Twenty-nine, depressed, and drowning in credit card debt after losing her job during the pandemic, a millennial woman decides to end her troubles by jumping off Seoul’s Mapo Bridge.
But her suicide attempt is interrupted by a girl dressed all in white. Ah Roa, The Clairvoyant Magical Girl, is on a mission to find the greatest magical girl of all time. And our protagonist just may be that special someone.
However, this young woman’s initial excitement turns to frustration when she learns being a magical girl in real life is much different than how it’s portrayed in stories. It isn’t just destiny—it’s work. Magical girls go to job fairs, join trade unions, attend classes. And for this magical girl there are no special powers and no great perks, and despite being magical, she still battles with low self-esteem. Her magic wand . . . is a credit card—which she must use to defeat a terrifying threat that isn’t a monster or an intergalactic war.
Park Seolyeon reimagines classic fantasy tropes in a novel that explores real-world challenges that are both deeply personal and universal: the search for meaning and the desire to do good in a world that feels like it’s ending. A fun, fast-paced, and enchanting narrative that sparkles thanks to award-nominated translator Anton Hur, A Magical Girl Retires reminds us that we are all magical girls—that fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight can be anyone's game.
About the author – PARK Seolyeon
Park Seolyeon was born in Cheorwon, Korea. She made her debut by winning the journal Silcheon Munhak's New Author Prize and received the 2018 Hankyoreh Literary Award for her novel The Woman Who Climbed on the Roof. Her works includes the novels Martha's Job and The Shirley Club, as well as the short-story collections Your Mom's the Better Player and Me, Me, Madeline. She is the recipient of the 2023 Yi Sang Literary Prize and the 2021 Munhakdongne Young Writers Award. She lives in Seoul and writes in a variety of forms and genres, with a focus on gender and labor.
About the translator – Anton Hur
Anton Hur was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and was subsequently raised in six different countries on four different continents, including British Hong Kong, Ethiopia, the United States, and Thailand, but spent most of his time in Korea. He has worked as an interpreter and translator for more than two decades, and in 2022, was double-longlisted and shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. In 2023, his translation of Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny was shortlisted for the National Book Awards.
When registering for a book club meeting, please respectfully consider the following:
- Due to organizational and practical limitations of our events, the number of participants for each event is strictly limited.
- Your registration will be confirmed by e-mail. In case the number of registrations exceeds the number of available seats, a waiting list will be created.
- Online registration for this event is mandatory and is done on a first come, first serve basis. Please understand that it is very unfair to refuse registrations on the one hand and observe that registered persons simply do not show up at events on the other hand.
- After having registered, please notify us formally (through e-mail) and in due time (at least before the meeting) in case that you want to cancel your registration.
Those who fail to do so, will be restricted from attending other KCC events.