AUTHOR’S BIO

Mirinae Lee is the author of 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster, which was nominated in 2024 for the numerous awards, including the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, and William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.

Born and raised in South Korea, Ms Lee currently lives in Hong Kong with her husband and children.

Website:

www.mirinaelee.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW PART I

What does your name mean?
“Mirinae” means, in traditional Korean, the Milky Way.

What is your favorite English word?
Oh, impossible to pick just one! But if I had to, I would say “zephyr.” It's one of those rare words that sound as well as look beautiful, and its sound fits its meaning perfectly. I love pronouncing and hearing "zephyr."

If you could have dinner with any author, who would it be?
I would love to sit down and chat with Yoo Shi-min (유시민), my favorite Korean non-fiction writer. He has an incredible gift of explaining complicated concepts in clear, simple language, so it would be very fun and educational to talk with him. I would ask him about his favorite books, films, and TV series.

What epitaph will be carved on your professional tombstone?
To be completely honest, I don’t care much about legacy, about how I will be remembered as a writer after I’m gone. When I’m dead, I’m dead! I just want to enjoy my job as much as possible while I’m alive and still writing.

Complete the following line (the opening sentence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby): "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since..."
“Whenever you feel the world is a big mess of nonsense,” he told me, “just remember that all the things in the world are made of atoms.”
(Inspired by the words of Richard Feynman, a renowned American theoretical physicist.)

What is your next literary project?
I’m working on my second novel, Empire of V. It's the story of a dog trainer who helps dogs with behavioral problems and their adoptive families - inspired by the Korean reality TV show "There Is No Such Thing as a Bad Dog."

FEATURED BOOK : 8 LIVES OF A CENTURY-OLD TRICKSTER

Inspired by the story of Lee’s great aunt, one of the oldest women to escape alone from North Korea, 8 Lives of a Century Old Trickster consists of eight dark and spellbinding chapters that follow this remarkable character and her family as they struggle to survive during the most turbulent times of modern Korean history. Throughout the course of eight interconnected chapters, the trickster is a slave, an escape artist, a murderer, a terrorist, a spy, a lover, and a mother—a woman who must often choose the unthinkable to survive war and conquest in Korea.

A fascinating look at survival, trauma, and family, the novel is an brilliant literary debut from a bright new talent.

"A dazzling feat of narrative sophistication and historical invention." — Financial Times

"A gripping story set against the backdrop of Korea's turbulent history ... Brilliant and original" — Washington Post

"Enthralling ... Lee keeps readers hooked by expanding Mook's universe." — New York Times Book Review

"Lee’s smart, complex debut" — Kirkus Reviews

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW PART II

What inspired you to write 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster?
The book was inspired by my great-aunt, one of the oldest women to escape alone from North Korea. Her generation lived through the most turbulent times of modern Korea, from the Japanese occupation, through the World War II, the Korean War, to the Cold War. I wanted to create a complex female character and show her dramatic journey to use her wits to survive the unspeakable tragedies of Korean history.

Which of the 8 lives was most fun to write?
“Bring Down the House.” Describing the atrocities that the women suffer in the so-called “Monkey House” was heartbreaking, but writing the twist near the end of the chapter was weirdly exhilarating and cathartic.

What is a trickster?
The trickster in my novel is someone who is not afraid of utilizing whatever means are accessible to her to survive when the rules of civilization fail. She is equipped with her own sense of justice. She does not have regrets, and she does not forgive.

The chapters are like independent short stories that tie cohesively into a central narrative - was that your grand vision from the outset?
The book is a "novel in stories." Though unaware of this literary term at the time, I always wanted to build a novel in which the chapters work as standalone stories but form the life story of one woman when put together. This narrative structure stands for the continuity of life as well as the sense of disunity and confusion caused by tragedies in life.

The book blends elements of action, thriller, romance, history, and social commentary - if you could shelve the book yourself in a bookstore, what aisle would you put it in??
If I had to choose, I would go with literary fiction. Like all genres, literary fiction isn’t airtight as a demarcation, and yet it's still the least banal one that allows you to break or play with the conventions.

If the book were adapted into a film, what actor would be your ideal choice to play the Trickster?
In the film Han Gong-ju (한공주) (2013), I was mesmerized by Chun Woo-hee (천우희), who portrays a survivor of brutal teenage bullying and sexual violence. Ever since I watched the film, the face of Trickster in my head has been that of Chun Woo-hee.

THE AUTHOR’S FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK

The Neverending Story

by Michael Ende

The first meta-fictional novel I read, and I was blown away. Reading it inside a closet at home, I imagined that I was Bastian as he read the book in his school’s attic, making me feel as if I had become a part of the novel in a parallel narrative - the most transcendental reading experience of my life.

THREE BOOKS THAT MOST INFLUENCED THE AUTHOR

The Unwomanly Face of War

by Svetlana Alexievich

It taught me how to write violence with a raw, unflinching eye. I’ve never cried so much in my life reading a book.

Stories of Your Life and Others

by Ted Chiang

A mind-blowing sci-fi novella that was nothing like I’d ever read. It taught me that science fiction novel can be full of soul and emotion.

The Robber Bride

by Margaret Atwood

Any novel by Atwood is excellent. A perfect combination of ingenious storytelling and exquisite prose.

OTHER BOOKS YOU MIGHT ENJOY

Pachinko

by Min Jin Lee

Spanning nearly 100 years of history, Pachinko is an unforgettable story of love, sacrifice, ambition and loyalty told through four generations of one family.

The Picture Bride

by Lee Geum-Yi

Lee Geum-yi has a gift for taking little-known embers of history and transforming them into moving, compelling, and uplifting stories. The Picture Bride is the ultimate story of the power of friendship.