Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red tops Yes24 chart, enters Kyobo top 10 after Nobel
In short
Autobiography of Red (빨강의 자서전) by Anne Carson, this year's Nobel literature laureate, reached No. 1 on Yes24's overall bestseller chart for the second week of October and No. 10 on Kyobo Book Centre's chart. Kyobo said sales of Carson's books from October 8 to 14 were 210.9 times those of October 1 to 7, while Yes24 put the rise at about 224 times. Kim Nan-do's Trend Korea 2027 stayed No. 1 at Kyobo for a second week and was No. 2 at Yes24.
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Autobiography of Red (빨강의 자서전), by Canadian writer Anne Carson, ranked No. 10 on Kyobo Book Centre's overall bestseller chart for the second week of October, the retailer's list released on October 16 showed, according to Yonhap, Newsis and Kyunghyang Shinmun. On Yes24's chart for the same week, the book ranked No. 1, Seoul Economic Daily reported. Korea Economic Daily also put it at No. 1 on an overall chart it did not name. The Swedish Academy announced on October 8 that Carson had won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
Kyobo said sales of Carson's books from October 8 to 14 were 210.9 times those of October 1 to 7. It said sudden demand had caused shortages and that, because its overall chart counts online sales by delivery, the ranking did not immediately reflect all of the demand. Seoul Economic Daily reported that Carson's sales on Yes24 in the seven days after the award were about 224 times the previous week's. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
Other Carson titles also charted. At Kyobo, Eros the Bittersweet (에로스, 달콤씁쓸한) ranked tenth in the essay category, while Short Talks (짧은 이야기들), Glass, Irony and God (유리, 아이러니 그리고 신) and Plainwater (플레인워터) ranked third, sixth and seventh in poetry. On Yes24's overall chart, The Beauty of the Husband (남편의 아름다움) was eighth, Eros the Bittersweet tenth and Short Talks sixteenth, with Nox (녹스) at 22nd. Korea Economic Daily gave seventh and ninth for The Beauty of the Husband and Eros the Bittersweet and said Nox was in the top 20. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
According to Newsis, women accounted for 71.5% of Kyobo buyers of Autobiography of Red; buyers in their 40s made up 25.6%, followed by those in their 30s at 23.6% and 50s at 19.1%. Seoul Economic Daily described the book as crossing the line between poetry and fiction to tell of a boy born a monster who experiences love and loss. [ 1 , 5 ]
Trend Korea 2027, by Seoul National University emeritus professor Kim Nan-do (김난도), topped Kyobo's overall chart for a second straight week and ranked second at Yes24. Kyobo attributed its sales to office workers planning next year's work, and Seoul Economic Daily said buyers in their 40s and 50s made up 67.9% of its Yes24 purchasers. Money Trend 2027 held sixth place at Kyobo. Korea Economic Daily reported that Park Jong-hoon's (박종훈) new book Gajja Don Jinjja Bu (가짜 돈 진짜 부) entered at No. 3 a week after pre-sales began on October 8, and that Haruki Murakami's new book Gaho (가호), No. 1 the previous week, fell to fourth. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
Yonhap also reported that Tatsuki Fujimoto's manga Look Back, the basis for director Hirokazu Kore-eda's new film, rose 152 places to 22nd at Kyobo after the release of a special edition with limited-edition goods. [ 2 ]
Why it matters
The figures show a sharp rise in South Korean demand for a writer Korea Economic Daily described as not widely known in the country before the prize. Kyobo said sudden demand caused shortages and that its delivery-based ranking did not yet fully reflect sales, so Carson's position on its chart may not match the sales jump.
Key facts
- The Swedish Academy named Canadian writer Anne Carson the 2026 Nobel literature laureate on October 8. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Autobiography of Red ranked No. 10 on Kyobo Book Centre's overall bestseller list for the second week of October. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Autobiography of Red ranked No. 1 on Yes24's overall bestseller list for the second week of October. [ 5 ]
- Kyobo said sales of Carson's books from October 8 to 14 rose 210.9-fold compared with October 1 to 7. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Yes24 data showed Carson's book sales in the seven days after the award were about 224 times the previous week's. [ 5 ]
- Kim Nan-do's Trend Korea 2027 was No. 1 at Kyobo for a second straight week and No. 2 at Yes24. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]
- At Kyobo, Carson's Short Talks, Glass, Irony and God and Plainwater ranked third, sixth and seventh in the poetry category, and Eros the Bittersweet tenth in essays. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red was No. 10 on Kyobo Book Centre's overall chart for the second week of October. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Kyobo reported a 210.9-fold rise in sales of Carson's books in the week after the Nobel announcement. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Kyobo said its delivery-based overall ranking did not immediately reflect all of the demand for Carson's books. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Trend Korea 2027 topped Kyobo's overall chart for a second consecutive week. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Money Trend 2027 ranked sixth on Kyobo's overall chart. [ 1 , 2 ]
Still unclear
- How much Carson's book sales rose. Kyobo reported a 210.9-fold rise, while Seoul Economic Daily reported about 224-fold based on Yes24; the two retailers measure different sales.
- Which chart Korea Economic Daily's rankings come from. Korea Economic Daily put Autobiography of Red at No. 1, The Beauty of the Husband at No. 7 and Eros the Bittersweet at No. 9 without naming the chart; Yes24's figures in Seoul Economic Daily give eighth and tenth for the latter two.
- Where Nox ranked. Korea Economic Daily said Nox was in the top 20, while Seoul Economic Daily reported it at No. 22 on Yes24's chart.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Newsis and Yonhap report Kyobo Book Centre's second-week October bestseller list with Autobiography of Red at No. 10. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reports the Kyobo ranking and the 210.9-fold sales rise. [ 3 ]
- Korea Economic Daily reports Autobiography of Red at No. 1 on the overall bestseller chart. [ 4 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily reports Yes24's chart with Autobiography of Red at No. 1 and a sales rise of about 224 times. [ 5 ]