{"title":"Winners Of The Proverse Prize","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"jane-frank-and-mia-book-dami-jung-9789888492640","title":"Jane, Frank and Mia","description":"\u003cb\u003eJane, Frank and Mia \u003c\/b\u003eis about three people who cross each other's paths through some unforeseen event. Jane and Frank are seemingly opposites. Jane is a Korean woman who came to the Netherlands to marry Mia's father but is now divorced and raising her 15-year-old daughter Mia. Frank is Mia's chemistry teacher and is famous for his blunt aggressive attitude. As for Mia, she has been feeling lost since her parents' divorce, and unconsciously becomes the pivot of the story as she struggles to find herself. The lives of these three become intertwined as they recognize each other's pain and the obstacles each face, such as discrimination, oppression, misunderstanding, and violence. The author writes, As a member of a diaspora myself, I love reading books by writers with immigrant backgrounds. War and poverty caused earlier migrations, and often there was no possibility of return. And when you can't go back, it gives the story finality, urgency. Later generations, people like myself, had more choices. They could return to their country of origin or move to yet another country for their career, for profit, or for love. I am intrigued by what makes a home and why people stay or leave. I wanted to tell a story about someone who's left their home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDAMI JUNG\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1979, moved to New Zealand with her parents as a girl, and has now been living in The Netherlands since 2006. Encouraged by her parents (her father, a teacher of the Korean Language and her mother, a writer) she read avidly and wrote daily from an early age. Later, music became her equal passion. She attended Sunhwa Arts School, majoring in music composition, and earned a Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree in Musicology from the Korean National University of Arts. In New Zealand, she studied at Victoria University of Wellington (Asian Studies and Women's Studies), and won the Westpac Chamber Music Competition (now the NZCT Chamber Music Contest) with the Ivinkaia trio, appearing on the television programme, Asia Dynamic. Later she worked as an interpreter. Until a few years ago, she wrote primarily in Korean and her first novel was published in that language in 2011. As she has now spent most of her life outside Korea, she has decided to switch to English so that her family and friends can read what she writes. \u003ci\u003eJane, Frank and Mia\u003c\/i\u003e is her first novel to be published in English. Her wish as a writer is to pour out stories close to her heart which can mean something to others, to help people relate and feel like they're not alone.\u003cbr\u003eThere are two types of great stories. One brings you somewhere you've never been to. The other requires you to open your eyes and face reality. \u003ci\u003eJane, Frank and Mia\u003c\/i\u003e is the latter. I have Janes, Franks, and Mias around me. This is a story of the people I know, who suffered, struggled, decided not to stay still, and survived. It was impossible to separate myself from this gut-wrenching and life-affirming story.-Jeenkyung Chloe Kim, Zurich, Switzerland, columnist for Korean media.\u003cbr\u003eAn extraordinary story about love. It is also a story about suffering, abuse, redemption and revenge. It is about finding oneself, understanding one's past and controlling one's trajectories. ... A wonderful, nuanced book, thought-provoking, heartening - especially at the end - and interesting. -\u003cb\u003eHayley Ann Solomon\u003c\/b\u003e, New Zealand, Proverse Publication Prize winner, 2016, 2017.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49545126150417,"sku":"GOR013736771","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51067328397585,"sku":"NIN9789888492640","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9888492640.jpg?v=1751385126"},{"product_id":"shadows-in-deferment-book-birgit-bunzel-linder-9789888228591","title":"Shadows in Deferment","description":"A distinguished single-author poetry collection in free verse. The poet is serious in understanding people, relationships, languages, cultures, religions and the meaning of existence. She has lived in Taiwan, Mainland China, the USA and Germany as well as Hong Kong. Her work reflects these interests. The poems are lyrical and analytical, showing great skill in language. They refer to international and local events and personalities, ideas and philosophies. It is a rich collection. It cannot be read in one sitting but must be savoured over time, and more than once if justice is to be done to the ideas and the means by which they are expressed. Skilfull and attractive colour photographs by the author are included when new sections begin and add a valuable extra dimension to the work as a whole. Birgit Linder's Shadows in Deferment conveys tremendous range in the service of a poetic intention which, across an impressive body of work, holds her reader fast. - Stuart Christie, Professor, Dept of English Language and Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University. Birgit Linder offers a collection of deeply engaged and engaging poems, labyrinthine paths to track and weave. Behind these poems: a bricoleur's appetite and passion for life. Behind the passion: there's no doubt, a determined, curious and luminous mind. - Mary-Jane Newton, author of Unlocking and Of Symbols Misused. In The Longest Journey, E. M Forster writes of 'the union of shadow and adamant that men call poetry'. At her best, Linder is able to realize this impossible pairing, endowing the unbearable lightness of words with enduring diamond force. - Simon Patton, literary translator and poet.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51125196718353,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51125197373713,"sku":"NIN9789888228591","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9888228595.jpg?v=1750775942"},{"product_id":"south-of-the-yangtze-book-flora-qian-9789888833443","title":"South of the Yangtze","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51217145659665,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51217148543249,"sku":"CIN9888833448G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9888833448.jpg?v=1751286869"},{"product_id":"hummingbird-sometimes-flies-backwards-book-d-j-hamilton-9789888491711","title":"The Hummingbird Sometimes Flies Backwards","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51683697852689,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51683697950993,"sku":"NIN9789888491711","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9888491717.jpg?v=1750775954"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/winners-of-the-proverse-prize-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}