'The real thing': On authenticity with Sung Haena and Theodore Ell

The title of Sung Haena’s Honomono/혼모노 comes from the Japanese term 本物, signifying ‘the real thing’. And yet, the author is not interested in defining what is real and what is fake, she wants to go beyond that. What happens when we move past categories entirely? When we strip away surface-level perceptions and come face to face with what lies underneath? Join us as we explore authenticity and complexity with a writer attuned to the contradictions of an ever-changing world. Sung Haena is one of the most exciting voices in contemporary Korean literature. Her riveting short story collection Honmono was one of Korea’s biggest bestsellers of 2025, a remarkable feat for a work of literary fiction. Its breakaway success can perhaps be attributed to Sung's exceptional ability to identify and expose the social tensions currently shaping South Korea. She has won a number of literary awards, including the prestigious Young Writers’ Award, and was voted the most promising young Korean writer in a major readers’ poll in 2024. In this special talk, she will be joined by Theodore Ell, a writer and literary scholar ANU School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. Light dinner will be served from 5:30 PM. This event is organised by the Korean Literature Translation Hub, housed within the ANU Korea Institute.