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Capitalists Must Starve - a conversation with Park Seolyeon and Anton Hur
On October 26th, author Park Seolyeon and translator Anton Hur will join In Other Words at Tills Bookshop in a conversation about writing and translating political fiction, explored through their latest novel: Capitalists Must Starve.
Capitalists Must Starve (Tilted Axis, 2025) is a moving feminist historical novel inspired by the life story of labour activist Kang Juryoung. Set in 1930s Pyongyang during the Japanese occupation, the novel follows a widowed woman seeking to determine her own life freely. Working in a rubber factory, our protagonist boldly leads a strike, struggling for her autonomy and that of the women around her.
Park Seolyeon was born in Cheorwon, South Korea. She made her debut by winning the journal Silcheon Munhak's New Author Prize and received the 2018 Hankyoreh Literary Award for her novel Capitalists Must Starve. Her work includes the novels Martha's Job and The Shirley Club, as well as the short-story collections Your Mom's the Better Player and Me, Me, Madeline. She is the recipient of the 2023 Yi Sang Literary Prize and the 2021 Munhakdongne Young Writers Award. She lives in Seoul and writes in a variety of forms and genres, with a focus on gender and labor.
Anton Hur was born in Stockholm and currently resides in Seoul. He won a PEN Translates grant for his translation of The Underground Village by Kang Kyeong-ae and a PEN/Heim grant for Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny, the latter of which was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. His translation of Sang Young Park’s Love in the Big City was longlisted for the same prize in the same year. His translation of Violets was longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. His co-translation of Beyond the Story: 10-Year History of BTS debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and his translations of Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets and Lee Seong-bok’s Indeterminate Inflorescence were consecutively longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award. As a novelist in his own right, Hur is the author of Toward Eternity (HarperVia) and No One Told Me Not To (Across Books).
We are so excited to join these two award-winning writers in Tills Bookshop, and look forward to exploring with them how the writing and translating of fiction can provide sharp and timely political commentary.
Doors will open at 6.45 pm and the event will start at 7.00 pm.
Join us!
Notes on ticketing:
Tickets are £5 and are redeemable against a copy of the book at Tills Bookshop. A limited number of concession tickets are available, no evidence is needed for concession. If you feel you would struggle to cover the full price, but want to take part in the event, please feel free to pay the concession price.
On October 26th, author Park Seolyeon and translator Anton Hur will join In Other Words at Tills Bookshop in a conversation about writing and translating political fiction, explored through their latest novel: Capitalists Must Starve.
Capitalists Must Starve (Tilted Axis, 2025) is a moving feminist historical novel inspired by the life story of labour activist Kang Juryoung. Set in 1930s Pyongyang during the Japanese occupation, the novel follows a widowed woman seeking to determine her own life freely. Working in a rubber factory, our protagonist boldly leads a strike, struggling for her autonomy and that of the women around her.
Park Seolyeon was born in Cheorwon, South Korea. She made her debut by winning the journal Silcheon Munhak's New Author Prize and received the 2018 Hankyoreh Literary Award for her novel Capitalists Must Starve. Her work includes the novels Martha's Job and The Shirley Club, as well as the short-story collections Your Mom's the Better Player and Me, Me, Madeline. She is the recipient of the 2023 Yi Sang Literary Prize and the 2021 Munhakdongne Young Writers Award. She lives in Seoul and writes in a variety of forms and genres, with a focus on gender and labor.
Anton Hur was born in Stockholm and currently resides in Seoul. He won a PEN Translates grant for his translation of The Underground Village by Kang Kyeong-ae and a PEN/Heim grant for Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny, the latter of which was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. His translation of Sang Young Park’s Love in the Big City was longlisted for the same prize in the same year. His translation of Violets was longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. His co-translation of Beyond the Story: 10-Year History of BTS debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List and his translations of Kyung-Sook Shin’s Violets and Lee Seong-bok’s Indeterminate Inflorescence were consecutively longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award. As a novelist in his own right, Hur is the author of Toward Eternity (HarperVia) and No One Told Me Not To (Across Books).
We are so excited to join these two award-winning writers in Tills Bookshop, and look forward to exploring with them how the writing and translating of fiction can provide sharp and timely political commentary.
Doors will open at 6.45 pm and the event will start at 7.00 pm.
Join us!
Notes on ticketing:
Tickets are £5 and are redeemable against a copy of the book at Tills Bookshop. A limited number of concession tickets are available, no evidence is needed for concession. If you feel you would struggle to cover the full price, but want to take part in the event, please feel free to pay the concession price.