North Korean Literature.

Thanks to the Literary Review, I was alerted to the September issue of Words Without Borders, which features "Literature from the Axis of Evil" and includes writing, interviews from and about Iran, Iraq, North Korea and other "evil" nations.

Of interest to me is the North Korean section which has stories from North Korea (whoa!) and an interview with the advisory editor for the North Korean writing, Hayun Jung:

Would you say that there is a "dissident" literature in North Korea at all? Or is there one being produced by writers in exile in South Korea?

There is no channel for dissident writers in NK, if there are any, for publishing their works since all publications are strictly controlled by the Choson Writers Alliance, a chapter of the ruling Workers' Party.

Although only a few North Korean exiles in the South have published memoirs (and not literary works), since there are now almost 8,000 North Korean defectors living in the South and presumably over 50,000 North Koreans who have escaped to China, it is probably only a matter of time before an exile produces a masterful work dissident literature that he/she had been forbidden to work on in the North.

Do also check out the other writings and interviews from the other "evil" nations.

Words Without Borders have also edited an anthology of writings featuring the same title, Literature from the Axis of Evil, published by The New Press.

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