Novelist Choi Jinyoung's “things that had to be written,” “things to be written,” and the future we will remember together

— “I wanted to create possibilities.”

Since her debut in 2006, Choi Jinyoung has captivated readers with her diverse literary imagination in works such as Proof of Gu, To the Warm Horizon, and Just One Person, portraying characters who strive to protect their love and loved ones even in extreme situations. Now, Choi presents a new short story collection titled Things to be Written, featuring eight thought-provoking stories written and published between 2020 and 2023. The stories fearlessly tackle the pressing issues of our time, such as the climate crisis, war, AI, women’s narratives, challenges faced by the young-old, wealth inequality, and illness—matters that demand our unwavering attention and contemplation. The question “How should we live?” which Choi Jinyoung has repeatedly posed through different characters and situations, continues to gather anticipation as readers wonder in what new light and context this question will unfurl.

The title story, “Things to be Written,” sets the tone for the collection, capturing the determination to live and the desire to help others within a poignant narrative that explores the horrors of war through the innocent eyes of a young child and the enduring scars carried into adulthood. While acknowledging that life is a series of events and accidents that unfold as if by chance or fate, the determination to fight when necessary, rather than simply resigning oneself and to move forward is portrayed in each novel as a firm conviction towards the future.

The stories in this collection are those that Choi Jinyoung felt compelled to write in our current times, while also hinting at the new directions her writing will explore in the future. Thus, Things to Be Written allows readers to survey the unique literary world Choi has been crafting and will continue to create, in one glance, instilling hope for a new future through the determination to “not let this world perish.”