Today’s theme: 북캉스(Boocance)

Hot weather created new trends this year such as 호캉스(Hotel + vacance), 몰캉스 (Mall + vacance), 백캉스 (Department store + vacance), and 북캉스(Book + vacance). These are new compound words created to describe the trend of people enjoying indoor activities to escape from hot, grilling sun rays. All these words end with 캉스, which comes from vacance, the French word of vacation. The prefix in the front refers to places or activities people enjoy indoors. For today’s show, we focus on Boocance, or summer reading with special recommendations for young listeners enjoying the last bit of summer vacation left.

The Conversationalist

with

Sora Kim-Russell

- English translator of 편혜영 Pyun Hye-young’s , the best-selling thriller novel in Korea which received this year’s Shirley Jackson awards in the U.S.

- teaches courses in translation at Ewha Womans University and Literature Translation Institute of Korea

It’s the first time for a Korean novel to win the award, and the writer said that she feels excited to see her work being accepted in the U.S. How do you think was able to gain success in the U.S., where there is a market for genre fiction but doesn’t welcome translated fiction?

&

John Curran

- award-winning expert and archivist who’s been a longtime literary adviser to Agatha Christie's estate

- author of the book

Agatha Christie jotted down plots and ideas on notebooks and journalist Francis Wyndham famously called Christie's plots "animated algebra" - how do you think she was able to come up with such complex, original plots?

Media Monster

Next week: 소확행 (Small but Definite Happiness)