The Owl Cries (Seojjok supeuro gatda)

A lawyer asking questions. A disappearance. And a vast forest in the mountains—the western woods—where the trees huddle close together, emanating a crushing darkness, while a chill dampness fills the air. The forester, Bak Insu, is a recovering alcoholic. He claims no knowledge of the man who disappeared, even though the missing man had worked as a forester just before him. In the little village down the mountain, the shopkeepers will do the same & deny they ever saw or knew the man, though they’re less convincing, & his former supervisor at the forestry institute, Mr. Jin, dismisses his importance. But when an accident & a death derail the investigation & someone attempts to break into his office, Bak Insu finds himself conducting his own inquiry into the goings-on deep in the heart of the western woods—spurred by the mysterious words he discovers on a piece of paper in his desk drawer: “The owl lives in the forest.”

The Owl Cries is a treat for fans of Stephen King, David Lynch, & the nightmare dystopias of Franz Kafka.

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Hye-young Pyun (b. 1972) earned her undergraduate degree in creative writing & graduate degree in Korean literature from Hanyang University. Her published works include the short story collections Aoi Garden, To the Kennels, Evening Courtship, & Night Passes; & the novels City of Ash and Red, They Went to the Western Forest, The Law of Lines, The Hole, and Let the Dead.

Sora Kim-Russell is a literary translator based in Seoul. Her recent publications: Hye-young Pyunʼs The Hole, City of Ash and Red, & The Law of Lines, Kim Un-su’s The Plotters & Hwang Sok-yong’s At Dusk, which was longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize; & Suah Bae's Nowhere to be Found. Her full list of publications can be found at sorakimrussell.com