The Pachinko Parlour : Elisa Shua Dusapin in conversation with Aneesa Abbas Higgins

The Korean Literature Night (KLN) is a monthly discussion group that explores various themes and topics relating to that month’s chosen book.

In September we will have a special event as a part of our Korean Literature Night (KLN) with author Elisa Shua Dusapin and this event will be presented at the Korean Cultural Centre UK.

Author Elisa Shua Dusapin and translator Aneesa Abbas Higgins will join us for a talk about the novel ‘The Pachinko Parlour', following the talk, Elisa Shua Dusapin will respond to questions from the audience. This event is co-organised with the publisher Daunt Books Publishing and supported by Pro Helvetia.

Event Details

• Date: 23 September 2022, 7-8:30pm
• Venue: Korean Cultural Centre UK (Offline event)
• Free - Booking Essential, Register to Eventbrite page to apply
• Moderator: Aneesa Abbas Higgins

The Pachinko Parlour

From the author of Winter in Sokcho, Winner of the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature.

The days are beginning to draw in. The sky is dark by seven in the evening. I lie on the floor and gaze out of the window. Women’s calves, men’s shoes, heels trodden down by the weight of bodies borne for too long.

It is summer in Tokyo. Claire finds herself dividing her time between tutoring ten-year-old Mieko, in an apartment in an abandoned hotel, and lying on the floor at her grandparents: daydreaming, playing Tetris and listening to the sounds from the street above. The heat rises; the days slip by.

The plan is for Claire to visit Korea with her grandparents. They fled the civil war there over fifty years ago, along with thousands of others, and haven’t been back since. When they first arrived in Japan, they opened Shiny, a pachinko parlour. Shiny is still open, drawing people in with its bright, flashing lights and promises of good fortune. And as Mieko and Claire gradually bond, a tender relationship growing, Mieko’s determination to visit the pachinko parlour builds.

Elisa Shua Dusapin

Elisa Shua Dusapin was born in France in 1992 and raised in Paris, Seoul and Switzerland. Winter in Sokcho (Hiver à Sokcho) is her first novel. Published in 2016 to wide acclaim, it was awarded the Prix Robert Walser and the Prix Régine Desforges and has been translated into six languages. Her second novel The Pachinko Parlour is published in English in August 2022.

Aneesa Abbas Higgins

Aneesa Abbas Higgins is the award-winning translator of Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin. Other authors she has translated include Nina Bouraoui, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Vénus Khoury-Ghata and François Garde. Her work has earnt her numerous awards and citations including the Scott Moncrieff Prize for her translation of A Girl Called Eel by Ali Zamir and the National Book Award for Winter in Sokcho. Her translations have also appeared in Asymptote and Words Without Borders. Before becoming a translator, she taught French for many years in an international school in London.