Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today.
Nabillera: Contemporary Korean Literature [나빌레라 한국 현대 문학] is a curated, bilingual platform for Korean literature in English translation. We spotlight women’s voices, emerging translators, and intellectually rigorous yet accessible writing from Vancouver and London. We publish slowly, deliberately, and autonomously.
Follow us on Instagram @nabillera.korea
History
Nabillera published its first issue in 2017 with the vision of providing a wider perspective on Korean literature to English readers by translating works of established and emerging writers alike. It also aimed to be a platform where Korean literature enthusiasts could communicate with one another by sharing their own works relevant to Korean literature.
Etymology
“Nabillera” is an English transliteration of “나빌레라,” a poetic neologism that appears in Cho Chi-hun’s “The Nun’s Dance”[승무]. “Nabillera” is often interpreted as “it must be a butterfly” or “like a butterfly.”
Copyright Statement
Any literary work or photograph published in Nabillera is used with permission from the copyright holder. Unless otherwise stated, copyrights for original texts and translations remain with their respective authors and translators. Nabillera publishes these works under non-exclusive permission.
The background image for the site is Seungmu performed by Kim Myo Seon. Photo: Lychi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).