Spooky season is upon us. While the Booker Prizes' archive might not be filled to the rafters with tales of horror, Bora Chung's Cursed Bunny is certainly ghostly and horrifying – a perfect read for this time of year. Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022, Cursed Bunny, translated from Korean to English by Anton Hur, presents a collection of fantastically surreal stories that address the very real horrors of capitalism and the patriarchy.

In this episode Jo and James talk about:

• Their own Halloween traditions


• Bora Chung and her background in writing


• The unexpected way the book found its way to western readers


• The stories in this collection, and which are their favourites


• Their theories on themes throughout the book and what the author is trying to say


• Whether these tales of terror are going to keep them up at night

Reading list:

• Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur


• Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell


• The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith


• Hags by Victoria Smith

Further viewing:

• Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, directed by Park Chan-wook


• Old Boy, directed by Park Chan-wook


• Lady Vengeance, directed by Park Chan-wook


• Parasite, directed by Bong Joon-ho


• Memories of Murder, directed by Bong Joon-ho

A full transcript of the episode is available at our website.

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