Author Heinz Insu Fenkl to speak about novel Skull Water at Korea Society online event

Heinz Insu Fenkl, author of the just-published novel  Skull Water, will speak in a free live event sponsored by the Korea Society, to be held February 7, 5:30 p.m. CST (6:30 EST).

Fenkl’s novel is based in his life experiences as a half-German, half-Korean kid growing up in 1970s Korea, dealing with identity and displacement, and his Korean family, especially his Big Uncle, a geomancer and scholar whose life was uprooted by war. Through Big Uncle, Insu is drawn to the folktales, legends, Buddhist thought, and supernatural qualities of Korean culture. He views his life in South Korea through this lens, as the homeland rapidly transforms into a more modern and Westernized country.

Fenkl is the author of the novel Memories of My Ghost Brother, a PEN/Hemingway Award finalist and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. He is known internationally for his collection of Korean folktales and translations of classic Buddhist texts.

He is also a long-time regular contributor to Korean Quarterly of writings about Korean literature,  and his own translations of North Korean serial comics (manhwa), including The Crystal Key.