Conspiracy Theories – Special Edition

It might be down to the fact I rarely get more than three hours of sleep, but I am not a morning person. Others may bounce with Tigger cheer just after dawn, but I struggle to glue myself together before 9am. While I am often awake to hear the early morning quarrels of the geese outside and the chug-chug-chug of a passing canal boat add to a soundscape dominated by John Humphrys’ acerbic scorn, everything is muffled. It all seems to be happening in a dimension I am aware of, but not part of. Before my second cup of tea, the bundles of neurons that make up my white matter seem insulated not with myelin, but cotton wool.

Therefore when shouts went up that the post had brought a parcel from Seoul, I did not leap from my bed to shred brown paper and cardboard. At that point I only vaguely knew my name was David Southwell. It took at least another 15 minutes to remember I was occasionally an author and the package on the kitchen table was probably the latest edition of Conspiracy Theories to come out in South Korea. At this point, I began moving from bed to kitchen at Flash speed.

At every step of the process, I have been impressed by my Korean publisher Imago. Less than three weeks ago I emailed over an exclusive new preface for this book and now, with shimmering timing, they had delivered two copies into my hands making for a wonderful Christmas Eve gift. Beyond creating copies of the book at a pace even the Scarlet Speedster would approve of, Imago have delighted me with their design and quality standards. The new Imago version comes in at more than 550 pages, has better use of photographs and the luxury of embossed, glossy, black-on-black titles on the cover. To me it is a thing of beauty.

Best of all is the title given to the new version: Conspiracy Theories – Special Edition. I never thought I would see one of my books with the words ‘Special Edition emblazoned across the front. I feel like a film director getting to release a director’s cut DVD set.

The Fluid Beauty of Hangul Script

For the first time in my career as a writer, Imago – my Korean publisher – has given me the chance to create exclusive content for a foreign translation of one of my books. Opening up my inbox this morning at 7:30 and seeing that the 1, 000 word preface for the new Korean Edition of Conspiracy Theories met with my editor’s approval delivered a little bit of authorial buzz. It not only gave me a sense of being read, alleviating the usual suspicion of working in the dark and going unnoticed, it allowed me a new sense of wonder about my life in language.

Here were words written specially for a place I have never seen. Words written specifically to give me a voice in a tongue I have not mastered. Words written to be transformed into the fluid beauty of Hangul script.

I was going to post the original English version of the new preface on the blog. However, I have decided against it. I like the idea that some of my words are unique for Korea.

Shadow Play – the Hidden Hands of History

I am having so much fun dealing with my Korean publishers, editors, translators and fans that I wonder if I should not just be done with it and move to Seoul. The translator who is currently turning Global Gangland into Korean, Miran, sends me lovely positive emails alongside queries asking me to detail if a certain gangster's sister-in-law is his cousin, younger sister or older sister due to the exacting nature of a language that values familial positioning. The translator of Secrets & Lies, Ahn So Yeon, has been keeping me updated on the television interviews been done on the book. It gave me a warm glow to know that it was one station's book of the day last week.

Today I was honored to receive an email from DooSeung Lee, the chief director at IMAGO, my Korean publisher. I have never received such a pleasant and praising email from anyone actually involved in the dirty work of publishing my books. Beyond the fact that I have been offered the chance to write a new and territory specific preface for latest Korean edition of Conspiracy Files, there is the intriguing possibility I could decide to write a book purely for the Korean market. I am not sure how Shadow Play – the Hidden Hands of History translates into Korean, but it just might allow me to say all those things lawyers prevent me from saying in English.

Secrets & Lies Korean Style

The temporary break in the Royal Mail strike has meant post being delivered canalside again. Now any package that does not contain dubious chemicals is reason for joy, but one unexpected parcel this morning had me dancing while still in my boxer shorts. Given it had my publisher's logo stamped all over it, I knew it was safe to rip open, but I was not expecting what dropped onto the table – a Korean edition of Secrets & Lies. The slip from my editor simply said with wonderfully precise irony: ‘Your fame spreads!’

Shamefully lacking any fluency Korean, I have no idea how my name translates or whether they have kept in my song nods in the picture captions. It would be shame if the references to The Ruts (Babylon Is Burning), Bowie (Station To Station) and Stiff Little Fingers (Alternative Ulster) have all been lost. Then again, given I am not sure how big Luke Haines’ exquisite Baader Meinhof project was in South Korea, it might only be a loss to one soul in Seoul.

There is one thing I can say with absolute certainty about Secrets & Lies Korean style: it looks beautiful. The cover is fabulously eccentric. Does having Harold Wilson, the tail of an Apatosaurus and an upside down George W. Bush grasping John Kerry sell books in South Korea? Having a pipe smoking Cary Grant and a praying Bill Gates on the back certainly works for me.

Inside it is almost as if a manga-influence runs through the 456 pages. Halftone dots and dashes of gravure effect as design elements, pictures erupting with the impact of a good graphic novel splash. The layout simultaneously gives my words both kinetic energy and gravitas. Even the backpage flap advertising the Korean edition of Conspiracy Theories reminds me of the ‘Next issue’ trailer used by DC. I adore it.