A Most Charming Book
The Healing Power of Korean Letter Writing
I would never have guessed!
Over in South Korea, on the third floor of a shabby building, in the heart of Seoul is a a small and unassuming shop. The shop is called geulwoll (not capitalised), and is the Korean word for letter. This is not a stationery shop, but as the name implies, a letter shop.
People from around the world visit to sit and write letters to those they know, and many to complete strangers. The shop owner, Juhee Mun sells sheets of paper, envelopes, stamps and other items that make letter writing possble and joyful for both sender and recipient.
The author tells her story of geulwoll in her book, ‘The Healing Power of Korean Letter Writing’. It’s been very well translated into English by Clare Richards. The book is published by Cannongate and here in the UK has a retail price of £14.99.
I bought this book having seen it on my Waterstones app. It’s hardback and has a ribbon page marker, adding to the charming feel that this book exudes.
The author not only tells the story of her shop, but has dedicated chapters on how to write letters based not just on her experience, but also those of other writers. In her own words she says, “In this book, I go through the step-by-step processes of choosing paper, of filling the page, then finally posting the letter”. It’s an ideal book for anyone who doesn’t write letters, or anyone who wants to be inspired by letter writing.
The shop has a pen pal system so that if anyone wishes to write to a stranger they can. However, they have to firstly write a letter and place it in a box before they can draw a letter out to read. You can learn more how this works when you read the book.
I loved this book and would describe it as utterly charming. I know that if I can ever visit South Korea I would like to call into geulwoll first. It would be wonderful to sit down in the shop and write a letter with paper selected from the surrounding shelves, pop it into an envelope, and then into a postbox.