Han Kang reflects on memory and snow


"Snow falls between our words and our silence, between darkness and light, between memory and reality. In a way, I came to believe snow falls where God ought to be."

That is how Han Kang described snow during an appearance Sunday at the Avignon Festival in France.

Speaking in the soft, measured voice that has become her hallmark, the 56-year-old novelist spent much of the conversation reflecting on snow. Outside, midsummer heat blanketed Avignon. Inside, she returned again and again to winter, much as she does in We Do Not Part.

Discussing the novel, which draws on the Jeju April 3 Uprising and Massacre, Han called snow "cold, soft and fleeting." She said she wanted it to fall from the opening page to the final one. For her, snow became a way to mourn the violence of history while leaving room for healing.

Han took part in the official program of the 80th Avignon Festival, one of the world's premier performing arts events. Wearing black, as she did at the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature ceremony in Sweden, she greeted the audience with a brief "Bonjour" before joining a 72-minute conversation titled How Can We Leave Traces on the Snow? She also read excerpts from We Do Not Part and signed books afterward.

Han said she is often asked whether she writes political fiction. She does not accept the premise of the question.

"I don't believe the personal and the political can be separated," she said. "The Vegetarian may seem like a deeply personal novel, but it is also profoundly political. Human Acts is often read as a political novel, yet for me it is deeply personal."

Asked why she continues to write, Han said she has long been drawn to humanity's repeated acts of violence throughout history.

"I heard it rained in Avignon a few days ago," she said. "Perhaps that rain was the same snow that fell on me in Seoul three years ago." [延續閱讀：大濛][霧：歷史的遮蔽與失語]

Han also explained why she closed Today Bookstore, the independent bookstore she operated until July 7. The building had been sold, she said, requiring all tenants to move out. Shortly before the bookstore closed, French actress Isabelle Huppert stopped by.

"We talked during the quiet hours before customers arrived," Han said. "It became one of my happiest memories."

Asked when readers might see her next novel, Han said she already has three books she hopes to write. "But by the time I finish them," she said with a smile, "there will probably be more. The list never grows shorter. It simply refuses to die." The remark drew laughter from the audience.

（이호재 기자 hoho@donga.com I Source: donga.com I Posted July. 14, 2026 , Updated July. 14, 2026)