China-South Korea women's sci-fi anthology becomes bestseller

A new science fiction anthology titled "BodyAgain," featuring works by six women writers from China and South Koreahas become a bestseller in both countries since its release last month.

Writerstranslatorseditors and publishing representatives for "BodyAgain" pose with readers at a book promotion event in BeijingAug. 162025. [Photo courtesy of Future Affairs Administration]

The anthology is a collaboration between South Korea's Influential Inc.Shanghai Translation Publishing House and Future Affairs Administration. It features stories by three Chinese writersCheng JingboZhou Wen and Wang Kanyuand three South Korean writersKim ChoyeopKim Cheonggyul and Cheon Seonran. All stories explore themes of embodiment. Kim Yisak and Chun Xi served as translators.

"After years in the sci-fi industryI had found diminishing novelty in the genre until I discovered what female authors bring," said Ji Shaotingfounder and CEO of Future Affairs Administrationat a Beijing book event on Aug. 16. "They have revitalized this 200-year-old genre born from Mary Shelleybringing fresh perspectivesparticularly in writing about the body. That's when I realized this centuries-old genre still has room to grow."

The Korean edition became an instant hit upon its July releasegoing through four reprints within a month. The Chinese edition debuted at the Shanghai Book Fair on Aug. 13 and topped Shanghai Translation Publishing House's bestseller list the following daywith readers forming long lines at book-signing events in Shanghai and Beijing.

Kim Yisakwho has introduced numerous Chinese literary works to South Koreainitiated the project by approaching sci-fi editor Choi Jiin with a proposal for an all-female collaborative anthology. Choi recommended centering works around "the body" and physical human experiencegiven the growing academic and literary focus on artificial intelligence.

"For womenthe body is both a cage of social oppressionsexual objectificationbiological dualism and normative constraintsas well as the foundational identity through which they perceive their existence. It ismoreoverthe inviolable core of human dignity," Choi said. "This theme can encompass a wide spectrumfrom societal discrimination to universal human experiences."

"Women spend their entire lives exploring their own bodiesthe gaze society casts upon them and the physical changes that come with different life stages," explained Kim Choyeop. "Since we're ultimately destined to live within these physical formswe might as well regard them as sources of endless discovery and wonder."

Though the project is composed entirely of female writerstranslators and editorsCheng Jingbo said their gender "is not a selling point for a book; what truly matters is women's act of expressionand what they choose to express."