Today I am excited to launch North Lights, a new online journal about North(ern) Korea … its past, present, and future. North Lights will publish exciting new work and share links to the best global scholarship and writing about North Korea. We …
The following speech was delivered online in English and Korean on the 5th of December 2020. The event was entitled: ‘Building Up Cross-Cultural Understanding Through Children’s Literature Between Australia and Korea: 2020’, convened by Dr Hyung-joo Judy Park. Dr Park …
The Book of Beasts: Animal & Human Nature in Children’s Literature Read more »
Last week I had the pleasure of answering a short Q&A for Elizabeth Shim about North Korean children’s culture in the Kim Jong Un era, alongside Martin Petersen from the National Museum of Denmark. As usual, my enthusiasm ran over …
Some Questions About North Korean Children’s Culture in the KJU Era Read more »
This week I had the honour of meeting over 500 Year 7 and Year 8 students at Oakhill College in Castle Hill at the invitation of librarian Lynn Revai. The theme of the Oakhill Book Week for 2019 was “Banquet …
Oakhill College Banquet of Books: Book Week 2019 Read more »
Australian Children’s Laureate Morris Gleitzman recently told a packed audience in Sydney that everywhere he travels in Australia he hears young people express bewilderment that adults keep electing to high office men and women whose behaviour, should they – the …
Our Chosen Stories: Reflections on Four Years of Empire of the Waves Read more »
Over at Sino-NK, you can now find the concluding installment of my two-part series, exploring the childhood hagiographies of the North Korean leaders. Last time, I considered the early life of Kim Jong Il, the “heaven-sent” boy destined to become …
Hagiography of the Kims & the Childhood of Saints: Kim Il Sung Read more »
‘Through literature, art, song and ritual, North Korea meticulously embeds the childhoods of its leaders in the national consciousness. Imitating the medieval lives of saints, and apocryphal infancy narratives of Christ, the lives of the Great and Dear Leaders–known respectively …
Hagiography of the Kims and the Childhood of Saints: Kim Jong-il Read more »
In 2013 I Co-Directed Panoptic Perspectives: Voices in Exile with Professor Kyungmook Kim, Dr Markus Bell, Dr Sohoon Lee, & Vanessa Danielsen at ANU, the University of Sydney, and Sydney Cheil Church (Concord). The festival explored North Korean propaganda, arts, …