Half of Anne Carson’s book buyers are in their 20s and 30s ... Sales surge 39-fold in the four days after her Nobel win

[Financial News] Sales of Korean translations surged after Canadian writer Anne Carson was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her signature work, Autobiography of Red, topped YES24’s daily bestseller list for four consecutive days.
According to YES24 on the 12th, sales of Carson’s books in Korean translation from the 8th—the day the award was announced—through the 11th were about 39 times the cumulative sales from January 1 to October 7 this year. Sales over the short period far exceeded the cumulative total for more than nine months before the award.
Sales of Autobiography of Red from the 8th to the 11th were about 71 times its cumulative sales before this year’s award. By the same measure, The Beauty of the Husband sold about 37 times as many copies, and Eros the Bittersweet about 28 times as many. In the weekly bestseller rankings for October 5–11, the three books placed first, 10th and 22nd, respectively.
Autobiography of Red held the top spot on the daily bestseller list for four consecutive days, from the 8th through the 11th. It was the first time in the past decade that a book by a Nobel Prize in Literature laureate had ranked No. 1 for at least four days immediately after the announcement, following Han Kang in 2024. Sales from 8 p.m. to midnight on the announcement day were also the second-highest for a single book by a laureate over the same period, behind Han Kang’s work.
The book is a “novel in verse” that retells the story with Geryon, a monster killed by Heracles in Greek mythology, as its protagonist. In poetic language, it explores the love, pain and coming of age of a boy with red wings.
Buyers in their 20s and 30s made up a notably large share. On the day of the announcement, buyers in their 30s accounted for the largest age-group share at 28.0%, followed by those in their 40s at 24.5%, their 20s at 21.6% and their 50s at 17.1%. Combined, buyers in their 20s and 30s accounted for 49.6%.
When Han Kang won in 2024 and László Krasznahorkai won last year, buyers in their 40s and 50s accounted for 65.8% and 55.8%, respectively. The pattern differed from the past two years, when purchases were more concentrated among middle-aged and older readers.
However, the sales figures and buyer breakdown are based on YES24’s data and do not represent the performance of all bookstores in South Korea. They should also be distinguished from figures comparing average daily sales before and after the announcement.
Cho Sun-young, head of YES24’s book business division, said, “Sales trends immediately after the Nobel Prize in Literature are affected by factors such as whether Korean translations have been published, but interest among Korean readers has been growing since Han Kang won in 2024.”

[email protected] Jang In-seo Reporter