Canadian author Anne Carson, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature this year, is experiencing a surge in book sales in South Korea. Following the announcement of her win, sales increased more than 200-fold, and her works have consistently ranked among the top bestsellers in major bookstores.
On October 16, Yes24 reported that Carson's The Autobiography of Red claimed the top spot on the overall bestseller list for the second week of October.
In the week following the Nobel announcement on October 8, sales surged 559 times compared to the previous week. The book held the number one position on the daily bestseller list for six consecutive days from the day of the announcement until the 13th, marking the longest streak for a Nobel laureate since Han Kang in 2024.
Other works by Carson also saw increased sales. The Beauty of the Husband ranked eighth, Eros, the Bittersweet placed tenth, and Short Stories came in sixteenth, with four of her titles making it into the top 20. Overall, sales of Carson's books increased approximately 224 times compared to the previous week.
Kyobo Bookstore reported a 210.9-fold increase in sales of Carson's books in the week following the announcement. The Autobiography of Red reached the tenth position on the overall bestseller list. Due to the sudden spike in demand, the sales heat was not immediately reflected in the overall rankings based on shipping data, but it did achieve the top spot in real-time online rankings.
Interest from younger readers has also been notable. On the day of the announcement, 49.6% of those purchasing Carson's books were in their 20s and 30s. The largest group was in their 30s at 28.0%, followed by those in their 40s at 24.5% and those in their 20s at 21.6%. This contrasts sharply with the purchasing demographics during the awards for Han Kang in 2024 and Krisztina Tóth in 2025, where buyers aged 40-50 made up 65.8% and 55.8%, respectively.
Chosun Young, head of the book business division at Yes24, stated, “The impact of the Nobel Prize on sales can vary depending on the availability of translated works, but interest among domestic readers has been increasing since Han Kang's win in 2024. This year, the exceptional sales record set by Anne Carson on the day of the announcement, along with the fact that nearly half of the buyers are from the 2030 age group, indicates that interest in the Nobel Prize is spreading to younger readers.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.