About
THE TRANSLATOR and THE EDITOR (along with CONTRIBUTOR Dong Mei Hwang and INTERN Joanne Yoon), trying to take some kind of look at translated Modern Korean fiction. This is always a work in progress, as the field is vast and our experience is small.
We welcome comments or opposing viewpoints and we will be happy to post anything good.
THE TRANSLATOR was born in Korea and teaches Korean in California, he is an international man of mystery.
THE EDITOR, Charles Montgomery, was born in the US and teaches in the English Interpretation and Translation Division of Dongguk University in Seoul. He can be reached at charles (at) ktlit (boink!) com.
Dongmi Hwang is a Chinese born Korean-American who currently lives in Suwon, South Korea, where she works as an English teacher and has been a contributor to KTLIT since March 2013. Growing up she was an avid reader. She studied English literature in university but was never exposed to its Korean counterpart until moving back to Korea. Since moving to Korea she has decided to pursue greater knowledge and wisdom through the further study of Korea’s modern literature. In particular, she enjoys discussing Korean literature with firemen whom she has the pleasure of teaching English to.
THE KTLIT INTERN is Joanne Yoon who was born in Korea but raised in the UK. She graduated from Yonsei’s UIC and went on to earn her master’s in English Literature. Her favorite author is Susan Choi, and favorite novel read recently is Jia by Hyejin Kim. She also plays scrabble.^^
Strangely, we’re not that into link exchanges/blog-rolling. If you have an interesting site, send us something. If we are interesting to you, feel free to link us. We live in the meh zone.^^
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
KTLIT on Twitter 
Hi Here at 3wm we are choosing a few of our fave blogs to work with.
Place each other in our blog roll and cross post interesting stories etc..
Check us out thethreewisemonkeys.com
Mizaru,
Actually, I know and watch your blog. Recently I love the title to “Seoul, Hard, Messy and..”
well, I don’t recall the whole title.. but it was well done…
I’d be happy to swap blogrolls… or contribute.. Just think of me as HooARyou?
Charles,
I’ve been reading yr blog with great interest for the last couple of hours. I didn’t realise the blogosphere had its own resident Korean Literature fanatic. It’s also nice to find someone with more than their share of talent in the field of litcrit. More power to you!
My name’s Andrew O’Donnell and I’m an English poet stationed in Gwangju, a six year exiled-in-Korea veteran. I’ve teamed up with a few people on translations of Korean poetry (Yu Chi Hwan, Yun Dong Ju, Han Yong Eun etc)in recent years and am considering working on an application for the KLTI. There are a number of different directions I, and a Korean co-translator, could go in.
I too think Go Eun needs a lot more attention internationally (do you know any worthy extant books in English outside of anthologies?) We’re also interested in Kim Ji Ha and a number of other neglected poets, particularly those from Cheollanamdo, perhaps even doing some work on the most recognised Pansori scripts?! I also run a U.K based independant press (with one chapbook under its belt) and also may have some interest from another U.K based small press for a volume of modern Korean poets. I guess I’m writing this as a touch of self-promotion but also to garner interest in any/all of these projects. I’d also be keen to know if there were any corollary small presses in the states that might be interested in material of this kind.
My blog (although mostly politics) is at:
http://www.myspace.com/ajodonnell
http://www.openseasonpress.com
andrewodonnell@riseup.net
…I think I answered one of my own questions, at least! Just found Go Un published at Green Integer Books in the U.S. Marvellous!
hi,
i dig on this korean literature. i hope to compare how the korean literature differs with japanese literature. since very few scholars are studying and looking into korean literature. i think, korea has something to offer in the literary scene.
all the best.
Marvin,
You raise a point that has been of some interest to me. As an aging academic^^ I am intrigued by how wide-open the field of Korean literature is. I checked out your blog (nice graphic on top!) and it seems to be primarily poetry. If you ever want to web-publish something about Korean Lit, feel free to do it here.. we always welcome lucid contributions.
I too think Go Eun needs a lot more attention internationally (do you know any worthy extant books in English outside of anthologies?) We’re also interested in Kim Ji Ha and a number of other neglected poets, particularly those from Cheollanamdo, perhaps even doing some work on the most recognised Pansori scripts?! I also run a U.K based independant press (with one chapbook under its belt) and also may have some interest from another U.K based small press for a volume of modern Korean poets. I guess I’m writing this as a touch of self-promotion but also to garner interest in any/all of these projects. I’d also be keen to know if there were any corollary small presses in the states that might be interested in material of this kind.
+1
Enrico,
I’m not much up on Poetry… alas.
Enrico,
Actually.. cruising the web, I see that Brother Anthony of Taize has just answered your question…
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/05/135_66277.html
Hello. This is Julie, a korean student who is studying publishing at Oxford Brookes.
I’m much impressed by your blog.
I’m doing my MA dissertation on Korean Literature Exportation and doing some case studies for that.
May I ask you a few questions?
Is this website supported by any Korean national institute or perfectly individual blog?
And I’ve seen Kim Youngha’s novel, Photo shop murder posted for free on this website
and is this kind of Kim Youngha’s international book promotion?
If you reply, I’d appreciate it very much.
Thank you!
Julie
Julie,
This blog is NOT supported by the Korean Government. I wish they would support it.^^
Through the blog I have met with people from the government, KLTI, etc.. but that is the extent of it. I post whenever I can, but it is around my work schedule. If you ever have anything you would like to post, feel free to contact me about it.
Also, Kim Young-ha is not involved in this blog in any way (actually, he may have commented here) although I do know him very peripherally on Facebook. I’m just a fan of his work and see it as some of the most culturally translatable of current Korean fiction.
Today (I hope) I’ll put up my review of Kim’s new book – a short version of which will also appear in 10 Magazine. It’s good.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
Charles..
Hello! I just wanted to introduce myself and my interest in this blog! I am a recent English literature graduate from Western Kentucky University living in Chungcheongbuk-do (soon to be Cheonan) on a Fulbright English teaching scholarship, and although the past month has provided my first experiences with both Korean language and culture, I have already become very interested. I did notice, when preparing for my grant year, the lack of English-language information on Korean literature, but I would love to delve into it. Glad this operation exists!
Eileen Ryan
Eileen,
Thanks for dropping by and feel free to use the RSS or twitter link on the home page to get updates. If you have any specific suggestions, or want to make any contributions, feel free.
Glad to have another reader!
Very interesting site, and also great to see that Korean literature is being offered the chance to be spread beyond Korea. I’ve struggled to find work in translation and I still do. I’ve added you site to my own list of links on my blog and I hope to drop by more and more often. As an idea kind of thing, is there any chance of an occasional newsletter for those of us who forget but want to remember to drop by … if you know what I mean?
Charles,
I just now realized that you were the editor of KTLIT. I’ve actually stopped by your blog several times before through the same blog list and think the work you all are doing is great.
The only English translation of a Korean work I’ve read is Photo Shop Murder by Kim Young-ha but I enjoyed it immensely. I once got about 40 percent through a translation for a Korea Times translation competition and have always wished I could have finished it.
Anyway, I just wanted to drop by and say “수고하세요.”
Holden
Did you ever consider the idea of translating the fantasy book Stigmergy into Corean language?
There is a strong request for this book on the market, it could be quite interesting.
Think about it.
Best regards from Russia, St. Petersbourg
Elejna
Hi, this is Soyeon.
I was fascinated to find out your blog and audio clip.
I am a writer, studied film making at dongguk university actually. ^^
recently, I am seriously thinking about publishing in korean as well as english.
I can communicate in english but don’t think my english is enough to translate and publish.
It would be great if you can reply and give me an advice.
thank you very much.
so yeon
First of all, your blog makes me very interested in diverse types of Korean literatures that I had not been much attracted by yet but have been trying with sincere interest. Particularly introducing well-known literatures and writers like Go-eun and getting to know about them are pretty much fascinating chances for me to deeply look into the Korean literatures. I definitely wish that I drop by your blogs more often so that I can nurture myself with literary susceptibility. Thanx a lot.
By the way, I was flown to this website by the help of “Blogs 10 Loves of 10 Magazine Korea (http://www.10mag.com)”. When clikcing on other links such as Wine Korea, there are contents introducing
various types of wine in English and having other useful information. When firstly looking at the word “Morning Calm” linking to your blog, however, I didn’t really guess what this site would be about.
Korea used to be called, “the land of Morning Calm”.. Does the name of your blog have something to do with it? I would like to know why the 10 Magazine Korea introduces your blog as Morning Calm. This is kind of ridiculous question but I would like to know it.
Thanx.
Hello, this is Haryung, a freshman at Korea Minjok Leadership Academy.
I have read your post about my term paper and the other’s and wanted to gratitude for it.
Writing was kind of my inborn trait which I had to follow. My family wanted me to regard writing as a hobby, not a job, since they knew that being a writer would not make much money in Korea. Despite of their expectations toward me to have such idolized jobs, doctors or lawyers, I kept stating my passion toward literature till they admit and agree with it. Translation, which I also hope to work during life, include translation of my own and other Korean writers both novel and poem. I believe that Korean literature has enough power and attractiveness to be loved by foreign readers and I want to spread it by translation. Thus, I am planning to major English literature at university in America, since I thought learning at American university will be much helpful for me to understand how English literature works and how I have to translate naturally. Reading your comments, I was very charged and again promised myself to keep working hard to be a good writer and translator. Thank you so much, and I wonder to have an opportunity to meet you someday.
Dear Haryung,
Congratulations on following your own dream! And doing your collegiate work in the US (or any English speaking country) will certainly help you become a translator.
LOL – or you could come here to 둥국대학교 and join our Translation and Interpretation Department. ^^
Hi Charles,
thank you for writing about my blog.
I never expected anything like this to happen to me and it feels great!
I am a senior at Seoul Global High School and lately I’ve been feeling a bit stressed out because of schoolwork and the coming season of college applications. Naturally, updating my blog every week or so has been something of a burden too. But! reading your post, I felt really happy and thankful and I gained a lot of confidence both in my writing and in myself. And confidence is something I’ve lacked for a long time.
Thank you so much for all the encouragement. You don’t know how much it means to me
hello.^^
maybe have you ever worked in daejeon woosong ?
if not sorry for that.
Dear Lee Soo-jung,
Yes, I worked at Woosong and Solbridge about three years ago.
Were you a colleague or student?
Charles…
what a surprise !!!Fancy meeting you are here!
I was a student in colleage.
I studied English conversation about 1month from charles tr.(in 2008s)
Now, I worked at hospital.
did you forget ?^^
I teached Korean to tr. maybe twice?
in sum, it’s good to see you again.
and heartiest congratulations.
I also heard that you are a super power blogger.
homepage is very future-oriendted blog. ???(understand me although I am not a good English speaker.ㅠ)
I wish you well~
oh, i forgot the question.
why didn’t you said to me that interested in Corean literature ?
I didn’t know that so far.
I’m proud of tr!!!!
nowadays, i’m reading an essay book ‘Affinity’ .(original title is 인연)
this book is written by 피천득.(he was also translator^^)
I recommend reading this book to you.
soojung, Lee Rounds
Hi. This is Gina from San Antonio. Texas.
I am korean.
I have a question for you. I have been writting poets .some Korean word and English too.
I would like to find some one to help me to Edite and Translation to Korean to English.
Please let me know.
Thank so much.
Gina
Ms Shin has written a very insightful and retrospective novel for people of diverse cultures. I am a 60 year old Indian mother and have never read a book that captures the sacrifices of motherhood so well. Thank You Ms Shin and I hope your book would become a must for students in every country.
Joy
문창석 씨! 안녕하세요? Do you remember me? I am Dr. Koo from Adroit College, where you had the 1st Korean learning several years ago. I got my 2nd essay book published recently, and it contains your story about ‘~요’ that you made a joke that “The origin of rap music is Korea”. When I spoke about my book with Margaret Muench (민백영 씨), I heard your story from her saying that you became an honarary citizen of Seoul. Congratulation!!! I am so happy that you are doing this promotion of Korean literature works. Hope to see you some time in Korea…
Here is your story in my essay book.
http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/view/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0000418003
Attached is an interesting article in the leading Argentine daily:
http://www.revistaenie.clarin.com/literatura/Young-Ha-Kim-Corea-Sur-estetica-norteamericana-crueldad_0_863913739.html
LOL… I’d have a much better chance if they’d done that in Korean!^^