Mirinae Lee has won the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, a prestigious U.S. book award for rising writers, to become the first South Korean national to achieve the feat.

“8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster,” a novel by Lee published last year, won the biennial award administered by Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation, along with “Orphan Bachelors,” a memoir by Chinese American author Fae Myenne Ng.

South Korean author Lee Mirinae is seen in this photo provided by book publisher Wisdom House. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

South Korean author Lee Mirinae is seen in this photo provided by book publisher Wisdom House. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Inspired by the true story of Lee’s great aunt, who escaped alone from North Korea, her novel centers around stories of life in the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea.

“Lee’s characters are so fascinating and complicated that the need to decipher them and unravel their mysteries generates unexpected
suspense and a desire to rush toward the answers, but her lyrical and evocative prose simultaneously demands a slow savoring of each page,” judges of the Saroyan Prize fiction said.

They called Lee’s book “a beautifully complex story of human frailty and strength.”

Lee, who is currently based in Hong Kong, finished her elementary, middle and high school education in South Korea before moving to the United States to study English literature in college.

She has previously published short fiction in several notable literary periodicals before writing her first long fiction, “8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency