My Friend Kim Jong-Un, Conversations with Keum Suk Gendry-Kim & Janet Hong

On October 26, the Centre for Korean Research will host the launch of Keum Suk Gendry-Kim's latest book My Friend Kim Jong-Un.
About this Event

Award-winning cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim launches her latest book My Friend Kim Jong-Un in conversation with her translator Janet Hong at UBC’s Centre for Korean Research. This event is free and open to the public. Join us in celebrating the unique, long-term collaboration between author and translator while exploring the particulars of translating nonfiction comics.

In her award-winning books Grass and The Waiting, Gendry-Kim documents the pain and heartbreak of Korea’s history. In My Friend Kim Jong-Un, she looks to the present. While the rest of the world partakes in the popularity of Korean culture, Gendry-Kim explores the life of the supreme leader, searching for commonalities to make sense of the daily fear: from his birth to his international education, his hobbies, and his relationships.

KEUM SUK GENDRY-KIM was born in Goheung in Jeolla Province. A prolific cartoonist, her books have been translated around the world, and her graphic novels Grass, The Waiting, The Naked Tree, Dog Days, and My friend Kim Jong-Un have been translated to English. Gendry-Kim is the first Korean cartoonist to be named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres.

Grass appeared on Best of the Year lists from The New York Times and The Guardian, and received the Cartoonist Studio Prize for the Best Print Comic of the Year, the Big Other Book Award for Best Graphic Novel, the Harvey Award for Best International Book, and the Krause Essay Prize.

JANET HONG is a writer and translator based in Vancouver, Canada. She is a recipient of the TA First Translation Prize, the LTI Korea Translation Award, and the Krause Essay Prize, as well as a two-time winner of the Harvey Award for Best International Book for her translations. She has been a mentor for ALTA’s Emerging Translator Mentorship Program since 2020. Her debut novel, When We Swallowed the Sea, is forthcoming from Flatiron Books in 2027.