Korean American author Juhea Kim received the 2024 Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award for Foreign Literature for her debut novel Beasts of a Little Land, as reported by The Korea Times. The prestigious ceremony, held on October 10 at the historic Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, honored Kim’s significant contribution to literature.
The Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award, established in 2003 by the Yasnaya Polyana Leo Tolstoy Estate-Museum and Samsung Electronics Russia, honors writers who reflect the spirit and values of the renowned Russian author Leo Tolstoy, as noted by The Chosun Daily. This year’s recognition of Juhea Kim adds to the growing global appreciation of Korean literature, highlighting the international resonance of her work.
Beasts of a Little Land, set during the Japanese colonial era in Korea, tells the story of survival, resistance, and the pursuit of independence by ordinary people. The novel, first published in the United States in 2021 and later in South Korea in 2023 by Dasan Books, captures a deeply human narrative set against a crucial moment in history. Kim, who immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea at the age of nine, expressed profound gratitude for the award, underscoring the pride it brings to Korean culture and history.
As The Chosun Daily also highlighted, Juhea Kim’s recognition follows the recent global literary success of fellow Korean author Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, further amplifying the global prominence of Korean literature.
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