By Honorary Reporter Eftychia Dovletoglou from Greece
Photos = Barbara J. Zitwer

American author and literary agent Barbara J. Zitwer said she became an aficionado of Korean culture after reading the bestselling novel "Please Look After Mom." 

Her subsequent research on other Korean books led to her promoting Korean literature worldwide through her agency. Afterwards, Zitwer wrote her second book "The Korean Book of Happiness" and was featured in media like The Korea Times, National Geographic Traveler and The Guardian.

The followings are excerpts from a Feb. 29 email interview with Zitwer.

American author and literary agent Barbara J. Zitwer autographs a copy of her book "The Korean Book of Happiness: Joy, Resilience and the Art of Giving."

Briefly introduce yourself.

I am a book agent and author born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York. I studied film at Columbia University in Manhattan, where I received my master's. I worked as a book scout and then agent for three years in Manhattan before starting my literary and film agency, where I grew into an internationally well-known and award-winning literary agent and wrote two novels. My latest book is "The Korean Book of Happiness: Joy, Resilience and the Art of Giving."

Your latest book was released last year. What motivated you to write it? 
I wrote it because I was looking for a book just like it -- a casual but informative, fun and educational book about the various places and experiences one can have in Korea -- but I couldn't find one. So I wrote the book myself. People know about K-pop and K-dramas but they don't know about the remarkable nature, people and all the aspects of Korea I've discovered over the years. I wanted to bring readers to Korea without them having to leave their sofas.

I've written diaries of all my trips to Korea and collected hundreds of photographs over the years. Therefore, I had a large amount of material on my personal experiences, people I met and other related information. I also conducted new research on Korean culture and statistics. For instance, I discovered that Korean women have the greatest longevity of anyone on the planet, and I wanted to research cultural customs and other relevant information.

Shown are the covers (from left to right) of the English-, Italian-, Bulgarian- and Greek-language versions of Barbara J. Zitwer's latest book "The Korean Book of Happiness: Joy, Resilience and the Art of Giving."

What drew you to Korea so much that you wanted to write a book about it?

Initially, Korean literature grabbed my attention through Shin Kyung-sook's "Please Look After Mom" and Han Kang's "The Vegetarian," two novels that fascinated me. These works introduced me to a new wave of female Korean authors whose writings deeply resonated with me.

The breadth and scope of Korean literature are as vast as those of English literature. I just completely fell in love with the writings of Lee Jung Myung, Pyun Hye Young, Gong Ji-young, Jeong Yu-jeong, Kim Young-ha, Jo Kyung-ran and others. After representing these authors' books and forming long-distance relationships with them, I decided to visit the authors I represented in person. They showed me their country and I fell in love with its nature, culture and people. Then I explored myself.

Your literary agency in New York promotes the works of Korean authors abroad.
I am a literary agent and founder of the Barbara J. Zitwer Agency in New York, which represents many global authors. Koreans comprise a significant number of the agency's authors. I'm amazed by the clever stories and how Koreans write, focusing on a particular issue with a deep analysis of the human condition and always from a unique point of view. I'm excited to see more and more books I promote being accepted and published in many countries.

The international publishers of the book "The Accusation" by the anonymous author known as Bandi pose for a picture at the Korean Demilitarized Zone on Apr. 3, 2017 to mark the work's publication. 

What projects are you planning?

I'll write a new novel and have been thinking about it. I'm also an executive producer of the film adaptation of my book "The JM Barrie Ladies Swimming Society" (available in Korea in Korean) with a British company and hopefully it goes into production in 2025. I've also produced films including the cult classic "Vampire's Kiss" starring Nicolas Cage. So I enjoy being involved in producing films as this is something I'm considering doing more of. 

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.