Book-Reading ACC
National Asian Culture Center (ACC)
Gwangju
Sept. 20, 2026
(Jisu Sheen recently moved from New Haven to Gwangju, South Korea, where she’s covering local arts and culture for the New Haven Independent and Midbrow.)
On a fateful day in 2021, Winter arrived at occult bookshop Seojeom Seojeom in Gwangju’s East District.
I’m not talking about the season, which was well underway. I mean Winter with a capital W, the stray cat who became the bookshop's mascot.
In Korea, naming an animal after a simple concept like a food or color is meant to help it live a long life, explained Seo Uihwan, Seojeom Seojeom’s owner, on Sunday at his booth at the “Book-Reading ACC” festival at the National Asian Culture Center. Seo's was one of 50 "book market" booths from independent bookstores and small publishers around Gwangju and across Korea. Aside from the book market, there were also exhibits, crafting activities, and an art market with 30 more vendors.
It was wintertime when Seo took in the kitten from the alleyway by his shop, so Winter's name came naturally.
Before this feline presence, Seojeom Seojeom’s specialties spanned tarot, occult, psychology and Buddhism. Now, cat-related books have meowed their way into the mix.
At Seojeom Seojeom's booth, I leafed through a Buddhism workbook and a book by a Gwangju journalist. Aside from books, there were also Winter-themed items, like a bookmark featuring a black-and-white cat doing a biiig stretch.
On the first of the three-day festival, Seo manned his booth alone. His girlfriend, Yoon Nara, came for days two and three to help out and provide moral support. She painted a sign featuring Winter for Seojeom Seojeom's table display. Yoon knows what it's like to be a small business owner; she runs a cafe in the North district called Dessert Radio.
Gwangju has an abundance of independent bookstores and small publishers, Seo and Yoon told me. The festival at ACC put that on display, with booths catering to specific niches.
One booth showed off the works of a one-person risograph studio called Sagak Press. Local artist Choi Jisun started it back in 2018, near the artsy alleyway by Gwangju Theater.
Choi is also a designer and illustrator. Her table display included risograph prints, copies of her own books, and books she designed or illustrated. While people passed in front of her booth, Choi made quick drawings of them in a sketchbook.
A booth for “Do it Press,” a small indie publication from Incheon, featured a magic trick that continues to break my mind. Depending on the way you unfold their "panorama" book, you can see one of four different scenes. Do it Press photographer 오소윤 (Oh So Yun), also known as yunscent, said the three-day fair went well for her booth.
“Everyone is friendly,” she said in Korean, “and people seem really interested.” And her books were selling well. When I snagged a copy of a small photo book with translucent inserts overlaying images with introspective writings, she told me it was her last copy.
The book-selling business comes with its challenges. Seo said sometimes people take pictures of his curated display and later buy the books online, where they can get them for cheaper. So when people actually do buy books from the shop, he throws in freebies, like a sticker of Winter, as a thank-you. When I bought an illustrated storybook about a cat named Mo (something to match my current Korean reading level), I also received a small tarot card: The Wheel of Fortune.
Seo makes up for unpredictable book sales with funds from the tarot readings and personality tests, which are more popular with customers.
Winter helps. When Seo does a consultation with someone visiting the shop and the conversation gets deep, the cat will jump up onto the person's lap—"like a puppy," he said.
These days, many people come to the shop to see Winter. Even while I was chatting at Seojeom Seojeom's booth, people passing by pointed out the cat drawings and knew her by name. “Winter has a lot of fans,” said Yoon.
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