Theme of the Year
( ) MEETS THE EYE
2025 Seoul International Writers' Festival
Seeing is the moment we make contact with the world.
There was a time when we would start the day by watching the morning light stream in, then watch the sunset at dusk as we learned to lean on someone else’s shoulder. We would walk readily into the darkness of night, where nothing could be seen, all to catch a glimpse of even one faintly shimmering star.
It was in looking openly at one another that we could become a “we” at all.
But lately, we’ve gotten carried away — invested only in what’s in plain sight.
We turn away from things that are closer than they appear, Failing to notice the warning signs when things are more dangerous than they seem, And paying no mind to those who carry more sorrow than meets the eye.
We walk the streets for hours only to realize we can’t recall having seen a single face.
A life where we’ve forgotten the awe of the unseen is no different from objects in a display.
Seeing doesn’t come with a price tag.
Seeing reaches toward a greater meaning beyond what is visible.
What can be seen should always make us wonder what lies beyond.
In this way, literature is what remains of our efforts to seek out a world past the bounds of what meets the eye.
All that is unseen has begun to speak to us.
The 2025 Seoul International Writers Festival aims yet again to re-envision our world from a perspective beyond what the eye can see.
We invite you into the beauty of the literature that is created when one set of eyes meets another.
- Date2025. 09. 12. (Fri) ~ 2025. 09. 17. (Wed)
- VenueGround Seoul
- HostLiterature Translation Institute of Korea
- SponsorMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
- Organizing CommitteeKang Young-sook, Kim Jieun, Nam Seung-won, Park YeonJoon