Han Kang of South Korea wins literature Nobel Prize
She is the first South Korean and first Asian woman to win the award


What happened
Poet and author Han Kang was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature Thursday, becoming the first South Korean and first Asian woman first to win the prestigious literary honor. Han has earned several awards in South Korea and Europe, and her 2007 novel "The Vegetarian" won the International Booker Prize in 2016, a year after it was translated into English.
Who said what
Han won the Nobel Prize "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life," the Swedish Academy said. "I'm so surprised and honored," Han, 53, said in an interview posted by the Nobel committee. Before yesterday's announcement, "the bookmakers' favorite" was Can Xue, an "avant-garde Chinese writer of category-defying novels," The New York Times said.
South Koreans "reacted with joy and astonishment," The Associated Press said, basking in "national pride about the country's growing cultural influence," including K-pop and the "brutal Netflix survival drama 'Squid Game.'" Lawmakers in Seoul paused multiple hearings to applaud Han's win and President Yoon Suk Yeol cheered her "great achievement" for literature and South Korea. "You converted the painful wounds of our modern history into great literature," Yoon said in a statement.
What next?
Han encouraged new readers of her work to begin with "We Do Not Part," her most recent book. The Norwegian Nobel Committee Friday morning awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, comprised of atomic bomb survivors, "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
9 inviting bookstores ready for you to attack their shelves
The Week Recommends Your new favorite book awaits
-
Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelations
Feature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What We Can Do About It’ and ‘It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin’
Feature How big tech is betraying its users and how Jane Birkin’s allure led her to struggle with her own self-worth
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literature
Speed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
A Taylor Swift analysis, the digital-addiction solution plus what it means to be a gay Black artist — all in October books
The Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Taylor’s Version’ by Stephanie Burt, ‘Enshittification’ by Cory Doctorow and ‘Minor Black Figures’ by Brandon Taylor
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetime
Feature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’
Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Alchemised: how Harry Potter fanfic went mainstream
In The Spotlight Traditional publishers are signing up fan fiction authors to rewrite their ‘explosively popular’ romances for the mass market