tree
hair
mask
gold
water
mountain
rainy day
whistle
Nessun sapra
complete happiness
Author's Note

The 2022 Booker Prize finalist, who created 『The Cursed Rabbit』
A selection of early masterpieces that delve into the roots of the fantasy world of Jeongbora.

A magical feast of stories that stretch out and cross boundaries

“Good stories are baked like a tile workshop with a very low defect rate.
“Shiny, solid, and still-warm novels, stacked one after another.” ─ Jeong Se-rang, novelist

A selection of early masterpieces by author Jeong Bo-ra, who was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker International Prize and has garnered attention from readers not only in Korea but around the world.
We have gathered works in the fantasy genre that can be said to be the literary roots of 『Cursed Rabbit』, which received the judges' comment that it "mixes various elements such as horror, fantasy, and unreality, while instinctively rooted in the fear and pressure of everyday life."
We have carefully selected nine early published works and one unpublished work, which stand out especially for their magical fantasy.

Among dozens of early short stories, we've selected those that blend and experiment with genres, exquisitely projecting a stark perception of reality within a fantasy world.
In the author's note, he states that he has loved mystical stories like fairy tales and folk tales since he was young, and although he often hears that his works in that format are metaphors or allegories, he asserts that he is a "hyper-realistic writer."
This may at first seem contradictory to his confession in an interview that he was influenced by “the freedom and fantasy of Slavic literature, a period of truly free art in the decade or so immediately following the revolution, before Stalin’s tyranny began.”
The author believes that “the utility of the story itself lies in its ‘unreality,’” and that “since I often write when I’m angry, I think it’s inevitable that I unintentionally became a revenge writer.”
The 'Information Fantasy Short Story Collection' series is a chronicle of that inner turmoil and intense experimentation.

Although it seems to have suddenly risen to fame with "Cursed Rabbit," it has already been an object of long-standing affection for readers of genre fiction called "Information."
The world of works that Jeong Do-gyeong has accumulated over 20 years of experience across various genres under the pen name of 'Jeong Do-gyeong' is too broad and deep to be seen at once.
Purple Rain's 'Jeong Bo-ra Fantasy Short Story Collection' series is an invitation for readers who have not yet met the author Jeong Do-gyeong to meet 'Jeong Bo-ra'.
The first book in the series, "Nobody Will Know," can be said to be a "literary prequel" that looks back at the worldview of the so-called "Bora World."
I have no doubt that readers will be captivated by the dynamic and bizarre stories that blend fantasy and reality, myth and history, and at times, offer a unique and eerie experience.

A literary prequel to the world-renowned 'Bora World'
In search of Joong-ra's hidden masterpiece

“There was a time when I was writing under the pen name ‘Jeong Do-gyeong’ for the fantasy literature webzine ‘Mirror’, with the thought of writing as I pleased, when I wasn’t receiving much attention.”
Novelist Jeong Se-rang, who read the story without fail, confessed that she was drawn to the “strange energy of that story” from early on, saying, “I don’t know how many dawns I found comfort in reading Jeong Bo-ra’s short stories.”

In fact, compared to the times when popular genre novels with distinct genre characteristics such as science fiction, mystery novels, horror, and thrillers were neglected in Korea compared to pure literature, the fact that 『Cursed Rabbit』 received international attention as speculative fiction was a major event.
But the reason we are paying attention to Jeongbo Ra is not only because the world literary award has called for his work.
Isn't it because his storytelling, which crosses the lines between ghost stories, romance, and noir that anyone would secretly love, and takes us to places that seem like they don't exist anywhere but moments that feel like they've been encountered somewhere, poses questions that humans have been unable to escape since time immemorial in an unfamiliar and new form?

Anton Huh, who has mainly translated Jeong Bo-ra's works (including "Mask" from "Nobody Will Know", which was included in the American Valancourt Book of World Horror Vol. 2), said, "Jeong Bo-ra's sentences, which contain a mixture of paradoxical emotions, have a similar atmosphere to the sentences of English-speaking authors such as Jane Austen and George Saunders.
“It is both grotesque and satirical, both appalling and humorous, and both sad and beautiful.”
Perhaps this ambivalent style is in line with the world of Jeong Bo-ra's works, which can be read as belonging to the 'magical realism' or 'fantastic realism' genre.

Although his selection as a finalist for the Booker Prize garnered significant public attention, and numerous interviews and articles shedding light on the author's various aspects have been published, it is the novels he has written that best illustrate the author.
This is why I believe that these hidden masterpieces will provide readers curious about information just as much joy as new works.
I hope that 『Nobody Will Know』 will be a gift box for fans of Jeongbora and future readers who will become fans, where they can find ‘Jeongbora’s novels that only I know.’


When an old story that was locked up is released
The strange comfort of a resurrected fantasy

The author wrote of this collection of short stories, “An old and tightly locked story.”
This is a statement written with self-reflection, as the author himself was trapped by many stereotypes at the time due to the long period of writing, but at the same time, the characters in this collection of short stories were (or were) literally trapped somewhere.

The first thing I realized as I reread the stories I wrote a long time ago was how firmly I was trapped in the gender binary and stereotypes of normalcy.
(…) That may be why I wrote so many stories where characters are trapped somewhere and are trying to escape.
─ Page 420, Author's Note

The protagonist of "The Tree" cannot leave the village due to guilt over his friend who was planted in the ground and turned into a tree.
The characters in "Hair" are trapped in a room because their hair suddenly sprouts from the rain of seeds that fell from the sky.
The protagonist of "Mask" is addicted to the pleasure of illusion and stays in his room.
The characters in 〈Nessun sapra〉 are also people confined in a mental hospital.

Sitting side by side on that high branch, the two boys would look down on the world, talking about the mountains that surrounded the horizon beyond the seemingly endless forest, and the world beyond that, a wider and more interesting world.
─ Page 14, “Tree”

“Tree” is the story of a man who was trapped in “the mountains that surround the horizon beyond the forest” and who goes through all of that and heads out to the “outside world.”
The events that unfold are tragic, but his attitude of wanting to go out and live while carrying nightmare-like memories and feeling responsible gives us a strange comfort along with a bittersweet aftertaste.
In this way, Jeong Bo-ra's stories provide readers with (to borrow author Jeong Se-rang's words) "the strangest comfort in the world."

Just like the “he” in “Tree” who went out into the outside world, the “old and tightly confined stories” in this collection of short stories also come out again to meet the readers.
The only way for a work to escape the limitations of time is for it to meet readers and be constantly interpreted.
When an old, tightly locked story is released and read, it magically takes on new life.

In a beautiful and merciless world
Justice established resolutely and ruthlessly

The unrealistic and supernatural world of 『Nobody Will Know』 consistently creates a strange, creepy, and bitter atmosphere that is characteristic of 'Jungbo-ra'.
From “Tree” and “Mountain” that unfold in a classical space and time reminiscent of a folktale, to “Hair,” “Mask,” and “Rainy Day,” which seem to be set in the present or the future, to “Water,” “Gold,” and “Whistle,” which are close to science fiction, and on the other hand, “Nessun sapra” and “Perfect Happiness” that borrow from real historical backgrounds.
Looking back at the rich world of works the author has built up along the composition where works of various colors intersect, we can also feel the truth of literary critic Jeon Cheong-rim's words: "One of Jeong Bo-ra's strengths is that she never stops challenging herself by crossing boundaries, combining not only the classic Gothic genre but also subgenres such as pulp, pornography, and parody."

There was no way to forgive someone who was not aware of their mistakes and did not ask for forgiveness.
So what he needed now was not goodness or mercy.
What he wanted was justice.
─ Page 416, "Perfect Happiness"

The fantastic stories that Informationra tells are imbued with a rather strict and ruthless attitude.
From the opening "Tree" to the concluding "Perfect Happiness," "Nobody Will Know" shows that the author has been varying the theme of "revenge," which left a strong impression in "Cursed Rabbit," for a long time.
Not forgiving someone who does not deserve forgiveness.
As author Jeong Se-rang says, this unwavering attitude gives readers “a very rare kind of satisfaction.”
As the author has always emphasized, “Reality is more horrifying, grotesque, and absurd,” even the author’s words, “I hope the war ends quickly and all the bad guys die quickly and are eaten by wolves,” are very typical of him.


Author's Note

(…) I like unrealistic stories.
I think the utility of the story itself lies there.
Experiencing a world in your imagination that you cannot encounter in reality.
Even if I tell the story of my own experience, to the listener or reader, it is just a story of a different life that they have not experienced.
So, whether it happened in reality, could happen, or could not happen, from the reader's perspective, it is fundamentally the same in that it is virtual, fictional, and imaginary.
Since it's a fictional story, wouldn't the further it strays from reality, the more interesting it becomes? Of course, the further it strays from reality, the more confusing the story (and the readers who read or listen to it) will become.
But I think that confusion is part of the fun.
I hope readers will think the same way.
(…) I wanted to tell my readers an interesting story.
I hope you enjoy reading it.