Kim Choyeop has entered the Korean mainstream reading market with her warm science fiction style. Her four published novels have swept the best-seller lists of Korean bookstores and hailed as a trend in science fiction for the new generation. Photo courtesy of Linking Publishing.

"The 2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival will be held from November 11th to November 28th. This year's main concept is "Reading Kaohsiung, Reading the World." There will be over a hundred quality lectures during the festival, featuring the connectivity between the local and the world, and registration is open now. The Korean media has labeled Kim Choyeop (金草葉, 김초엽), a new-generation science fiction writer, as a "phenomenal" author who published her first collection of novels, If We Can’t Travel at the Speed of Light (如果我們無法以光速前進) in 2019. The series sets off a new-generation sci-fi trend in South Korea, is well received by overseas readers, and has won the "Today's Writers Award," a grand prize of the Korean literary world. Kim will debut at the Kaohsiung Public Library's Ji-hui Auditorium (際會廳) with a talk titled "Science Fiction, How to Meet Other Worlds." (科幻小說，遇見另一個世界的方法) Take this precious opportunity and register.

Wang, Wen-Tsui (王文翠), Director of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Directors of KPL, said that knowledge knows no boundaries and that reading is a way to travel in the world of books. The 2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival will take "Reading Kaohsiung, Reading the World" as its starting point. The new generation of sci-fi fiction writer Kim Choyeop chose Kaohsiung for the first meeting in Taiwan on November 12th. The festival combines the World Poetry Festival, which presents an international perspective on world literature and disperses Kaohsiung's flavorful thoughts. Reading is often an important way to help people get answers or to improve themselves. The 2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival meets with the public with a book fair, KPL’s Market on Meadow, a hundred quality lectures, and an immersive theater reading experience hoping to encircle the link between the local and the world and, at the same time, let more people see the international works and support the sharing of Taiwan's original and excellent works and exchanges with each other.

Acting Director of KPL, Lin Yi-Cheng (林奕成), said that from November 11th, the "2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival" officially kicks off with registration open to over a hundred quality lectures that are held every Friday and during the weekend. Renowned writers in various fields will be invited to share their reading. The thematic book fair in the main library centers on four themes and will be displayed in the B1 International Picture Book Center, the 3rd-floor patio area, and the 4th-floor cultural sedimentation areas. During the Festival, 100 publishing houses and independent bookstores will gather at KPL’s Harbor Book Fair. KPL’s Market on Meadow will be staged in the 1st-floor square of the main library. The event aims to meet readers’ needs to visit the book fair and enrich the taste buds of the harbor. It is hoped that the public will draw spiritual energy from the 2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival.

Korean writer Kim Choyeop has caused a Sci-fiction wave in South Korea with her book If We Can’t Travel at the Speed of Light. Known as the representative of the elegant school of science fiction in South Korea, she constructed a future world for the readers with the warmth of the text. Kim Choyeop uses her unique, warm writing of the sci-fi world to captivate readers of all ages. She enters the mainstream reading market in Korea with all four published novels sweeping the bookstore sales list in Korea. Her works have been titled as the trend of new generation science fiction. On November 12th, Kim will share the charms of different genres of science fiction in her eyes, and at the same time, she will also bring the history of science fiction literature in Korea to Taiwan readers. Moreover, she will share with readers her opportunities to become a science fiction writer and her journey as a writer so that Taiwanese readers can better understand her and her works!

The first week of the 2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival kicks off with a performance by "Funnynoproblem" (面白大丈夫) and a music and literature talk show, with singers Chen Jian-wei (陳建瑋) and Shao Dalun (邵大倫) singing old Taiwanese songs and Men Envy Children (小男孩樂團) bringing their music to the world of healing journeys. Celebrity artist Shara Lin (林逸欣) will perform her latest album, Falling, and Golden Bell Award-winning actresses Huang Peij-ia (黃姵嘉) and Gong Neng-an (宮能安) will also present a conversation. There will also be book talks by well-known director Lu Jien-jhang (盧建彰), poet Ren Ming-sin (任明信), Sao sia (騷夏) vs. Huang Da-mi (黃大米), famous author Sia Yun-fen (夏韻芬), and coaches Hung Yi-jhong (洪一中) and Wang Yi-gen (王翊亘). Visitors are invited to take advantage of the rich and diverse international program of the 2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival. It is hoped that the festival will stimulate people’s interest in enjoying reading and exploring diverse cultures.

New generation science fiction author Kim Choyeop’s first meeting in Taiwan on Nov. 12th in Kaohsiung ©Blossom Creative.

Golden Bell Award-winning Best Actress Huang Pei-jia and Gong Neng-an had an open talk—picture courtesy of lightst8 studio (拾光創藝).

The 2023 Kaohsiung Reading Festival opens on Nov. 11th, and renowned artist Shara Lin performs her latest album, Falling.