Found on the Web
• A new (to me anyway) blog for poetry people: Korean Poetry in Translation. It’s by Dr. Chae-Pyong (“J.P.”) Song, who by the look of it should be completely bilingual.^^ Two years ago, along with Anne Rashid, he won the 40th Korean Literature Translation Awards for translating Kim Hye-soon’s poems. In any case, if you’re into that poetry thing, give it a look.
• Next, from the good folks at Subject, Object, Verb, comes Ian Hideo Levy: An original work of literature, if it is good, should read like a translation. Levy, who writes in Japanese, makes the point that translations should have a sense of being and original work. But he goes on to say that even original work should be seen as translation, ” some sense of being a translation, a sense of a way of communicating, a way of feeling, a way of being that has been lost in the final product.” It’s a good read and ends with a very bittersweet anecdote.
• Finally, a note about the Korea Times Translation Awards. They are reported here, but what is most interesting to me is that no one received the award for poetry translation. One of the judges analysed, ““Always there is intense competition in literature but not so much in poetry.” This seems an opening for some young and aspiring interpreter.^^
