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1. What inspired you to write Capitalists Must Starve?

Kang Juryong herself should be the main reason, of course. I think my then-circumstances also played a role. I wasn’t getting any attention since my debut, so I was struggling.

Recently I met Choi Jin-young, author of Hunger, and she actually remembered the very first time we met in 2016, just before I wrote Capitalists Must Starve. I was working at a local office in the Construction Workers’ Union, where I met a lot of women operating tower cranes, so I was wearing a union vest on that day, too. I confessed to her that I want to live as a novelist, but haven’t got any request (from publishers or literary magazines), adding that I do plan to write a full-length novel and it is about a woman worker who did the high-altitude protest just as Kim Jin-suk, trade unionist who fought on the crane-top against the layoff by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction in 2011. I even said that I’ve been thinking about getting a crane operator license as a Plan B. 

Obviously I was torn between chasing my dream and making ends meet. Choi Jin-young advised me that I should go for the novel. Don’t be afraid and go finish the story. That piece of advice, I must say, was also the inspiration for the book.  

2. Your two English-translated books, Magical Girl Retires and Capitalists Must Starve, differ greatly in setting and genre (magical realism vs historical fiction), yet both share a common theme of female empowerment. What draws you to telling stories of women's resistance?

I’d like to say my other, not-yet translated books are in color and texture as different as, or even more so, A Magical Girl Retires and Capitalists Must Starve. I try not to repeat or replicate my previous works. I consider that my duty, and I feel joy in challenging myself continuously with new stories and characters.

On the other hand, like you said, even books that seem quite dissimilar share common themes. I believe this spectrum of my novels can be a testament to the diverse forms of female strength.

Furthermore, while I’ve been drawn to narratives about strong women since writing Capitalist Must Starve, I never intentionally resolved to write a “female narrative.” To me, it simply felt like a story about a human being. Novels are human stories, and as a woman I organically felt that my novels would be women’s stories. Just like all novels, my novels are a response to the world I perceive.

"In short, the reason I write stories about women’s resistance is because I’m a female novelist. I think I should ask a counter-question: 'How could I not write them?'

As a woman and a novelist, I believe that's only natural."

3. Another recurring theme in your work is a critique of capitalism. How do you see the relationship between gender and systems of oppression (colonial, economic and patriarchal) in your stories?

There is a biblical verse that came to mind recently: “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.’'(Matthew 11:12). What if we rephrase this verse by replacing "kingdom of heaven" with "rights" and "violence" with "struggle?

"Only those who struggle can enjoy their rightful rights, and all the rights we enjoy today were made possible by someone's struggle.

My rights and your rights are connected. Women's rights and the rights of sexual minorities are connected, as are the rights of the disabled, children's rights, and the rights of the elderly. Naturally, these identities overlap. Just as rights are intertwined hand in hand, oppression is also deeply intertwined."

Capitalist Must Starve (9781917126212),

published by Tilted Axis Press this fall.

The common thread between these oppressors is a lack of imagination regarding minority rights. Can we expect capitalists who ignore workers' health and wages to treat both female and male workers fairly? Can capitalists who discriminate against women in the hiring process and pay differentials based on gender be concerned about the human rights of other minorities?

As in the previous question, my novels are about the world I perceive, so I believe these perspectives should emerge in them.

4. Who are some female writers who have influenced your storytelling? What messages do you hope your works deliver to English readers? 

I can proudly say I’ve loved Han Kang and Kim Ae-ran since I was a teenager. There was a time I practiced writing novels by handwriting Han Kang’s short stories. And I love Kim Ae-ran’s humorous yet sharp perspectives. While I was seriously learning to write in my twenties, I was deeply moved by Hwang Jungeun's novels. Also, writing Capitalists Must Starve, I cried a lot while reading Choi Jin-young’s novels.

Photo of Park Seolyeon

© Studio Gaga, 2022

"I'm just delighted to be meeting English-speaking readers. This is my second novel, following A Magical Girl Retires. Capitalists Must Starve is a novel I've longed to send far away—even to the end of the universe, if there are readers there.

The language may be different, but I believe readers are essentially readers wherever they are. Every reader is precious and I'm grateful."

As a novelist, what I want to convey is simple: enjoyment. I believe we read novels because we love stories. It's instinctive to want to read novels, and ultimately, novels are meant to be enjoyed. However, I believe novels have the power to change individuals before and after they read them. I hope that those who go through my novel are not the same people they were before they opened the book. The message is in the book. If I could summarize it in a few words, I wouldn't have written it in the first place.

1. Park Seolyeon debuted in the English-speaking market just last year, and now Capitalists Must Starve is being released. In your opinion, how do her works resonate with English readers?

I have been saying for years—long before she was published in English—that Park Seolyeon is the full package. She is an incredibly versatile writer whose books are so different from each other that when I began reading her books, I would realize only midway that 'Oh wait a minute, this is the same author as The Work of Martha??"

She has written crime thrillers, literary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, comedy, tragedy, and all at a very young age. I think her sheer force of storytelling power and her beautifully precise language are what binds her work together, and these are qualities of writing that English readers also appreciate, so to me Park Seolyeon in translation was always a no-brainer. It's very gratifying to see how well she's done in English. I told you so!

Capitalists Must Starve (체공녀 강주룡), published in South Korea in 2018.

2. Translating historical fiction about Korean history must have required a lot of research. How do you approach translating not just the language, but also the historical and cultural context for English readers who may not be familiar with Korean history?  

This is where the editor comes in, really. I'm a Korean citizen who was brought up mostly in Korea and lived his entire adult life in Korea, plus I've translated several works of Korean historical fiction and memoir, so let's just say my perspective is a little more informed than the average English reader and I can't really tell what they would know or not sometimes. These are things I leave to the editor to leave notes on in the edit so I can decide to gloss in the necessary background information or not.

"I generally make a lot of effort to make the events of the story and the emotions of the characters as accessible as possible for readers because I am a great believer in the potential for universality of literature and its ability to cross borders. I guess I wouldn't be in this job if I weren't!"