Bulkwang Publishing announced Monday that it signed contracts to export the rights to Buddhist monk Bogyeong's essay trilogy — which weaves Buddhist philosophy into stories about cats — to nine European countries.
The three books in the trilogy are *One Day, a Cat Came to Me*, *Time Spent Reading Cats*, and *The Happiness a Cat Brings: Joyfully and Delightfully*. The rights were sold to the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Türkiye, and Greece. In the case of the UK, Germany, and Spain, rights contracts for all three volumes were signed simultaneously.
The deals were struck with major publishers in each country, including Profile Books in the UK and Droemer Knaur in Germany. The total advances amount to approximately 500 million won ($360,000), according to Bulkwang Publishing.
The cat essay trilogy chronicles monk Bogyeong's encounters with a cat she met by chance at a mountain hermitage, where she had retreated after wrapping up a decade of life in Seoul. The books go beyond sentimental narratives about companion animals to offer deep reflections on human existence and life.
The second book in the series was selected as a Literature Sharing Book by the Arts Council Korea in 2020. The third was chosen as a Literature Sharing Book by the Arts Council Korea in 2022 and was also named a "First Book of Summer" at the 2022 Seoul International Book Fair.
"For a single series in the religion and essay genre, this is an exceptional achievement," the publisher said. "It is meaningful in that it confirms the universality and potential reach of Korean Buddhist content."