Following the announcement of Anne Carson, a representative writer of 20th-century contemporary Canadian literature, as this year's Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, sales of her books have surged across local bookstores.

According to Kyobo Book Centre, sales of Anne Carson's books surged 138-fold from 8:00 p.m. yesterday (the 8th), when the Nobel Prize in Literature laureate was announced, until 9:00 a.m. today (the 9th), compared to before the announcement.

Carson is a poet, classicist, translator, and essayist who has built a unique literary world by freely crossing boundaries between ancient and modern literature, poetry and prose, creation and criticism, and translation.

Currently, a total of nine types of Carson's books have been translated and published in South Korea, including "Eros the Bittersweet," "Short Talks," "Glass, Irony and God," and "Plain Water" (published by Nanda); "Autobiography of Red," "The Beauty of the Husband," and "Red Doc" (published by Hankyoreh Publishing); and "Float" and "Nox" (published by Bomnalui Chaek).

According to Kyobo Book Centre, the best-selling book among Carson's works following the Nobel Prize announcement is "Autobiography of Red."

"Autobiography of Red" is one of Carson's representative works, which retells the episode of the tenth labor of Hercules from Greek mythology not from the perspective of the hero, but from that of Geryon, the red monster shot and killed by his arrow.

"Nox," an experimental book written in memory of her older brother who passed away suddenly, ranked second, followed by "The Beauty of the Husband" in third, "Eros the Bittersweet" in fourth, and "Short Talks" in fifth.

"Autobiography of Red" also topped the online daily bestseller list compiled by Kyobo Book Centre based on yesterday's data.

Yes24 also stated that sales of Anne Carson's books surged by about 184-fold over the 12-hour period from the winner announcement yesterday (the 8th) until 8:00 a.m. today (the 9th), compared to before the announcement.

In particular, sales of "Autobiography of Red" skyrocketed by 367-fold, and the book claimed the number one spot on Yes24's daily bestseller list as of yesterday.

In the "Best Top 10" compiled by Aladin based on yesterday's records, "Autobiography of Red" and "Nox" placed first and second, respectively.

Yu Seong-won, general manager at Nanda, the publishing house that has published the largest number of Carson's books, explained, "Orders for Carson's books have exploded following the winner announcement, leaving our current inventory completely depleted," adding, "We are in a situation where we need to reprint and distribute the books after the Hangeul Day holiday."

Kyobo Book Centre set up a display stand for Anne Carson at its Gwanghwamun branch this morning, but reportedly faced difficulties organizing the display due to the limited stock currently held at the bookstore.

Online bookstores such as Yes24 and Aladin have also set up special Anne Carson pages on their websites and are holding events such as congratulatory comment giveaways for the award.

(Photo: Yonhap News)