The Healing Power of Korean Letter Writing
By (Author) Juhee Mun
Translated by Clare Richards
Canongate Books
Canongate Books
18th November 2025
11th September 2025
Main
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Mind, body, spirit
Mindfulness
Self-help, personal development and practical advice
Hardback
160
Width 135mm, Height 204mm
Letters have been here all along, quietly influencing countless people in profound ways. They encourage, they bring happiness, while to some they even provide the will to keep on living.
Geulwoll is a Korean word for 'letter'. It is also the name of a small, unassuming letter shop, located on the third floor of a shabby building in the bustling heart of Seoul. People visit from all over to write and send letters to loved ones - and to strangers.
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Everyone likes letters. One of their charms is that we can't see what's inside right away: there's an anticipation in unsealing the mysteries held within.
In The Healing Power of Korean Letter Writing, Juhee Mun reveals the lost art of the handwritten letter: how it can ground and centre us, improve and repair our relationships with others and foster a culture of contemplation, reflection and togetherness.
This book is not about rules or right answers for writing letters. It is about embracing the power of what happens when you choose to carve out the time to write them.
Juhee Mun is the director of the Geulwoll' letter shop. When Mun opened Geulwoll's first branch in 2019, word-of-mouth made the shop into an unexpected hit, and it quickly developed a loyal customer base. Geulwoll became so popular that Mun opened a second branch in Seongsu-dong, only two years later. The Healing Power of Korean Letter Writing is her first book.
geulwoll.kr | @geulwoll.kr
Clare Richards is an award-winning literary translator working from Korean. She has translated works by Kang Hwagil, Lim Solah and Yeon Somin, amongst others. Clare has taught at the British Centre for Literary Translation Summer School and is also the National Centre for Writing Emerging Translator Mentorship mentor in Korean. In her spare time, she's often found crocheting, reading or gardening in her cottage in the Nottinghamshire countryside.
clarerichards.crd.co | @clarehannahmary