A bit older news, but an interview with the Fultons on their translation of Kim Tae-yong’s Pig on Grass.  The story begins with one of my all-time favorite first lines in Korean literature, “She kicked the pig in the balls and her purple sandal flew off.”  Which, I think, gets you in the mood to read the rest of the thing, which is both extremely, earthy and philosophical.

Not surprisingly, the interview with the Fultons includes mention of wine.

Aah.. happy memories for me.^^

A money quote from the interview will help lead to today’s second topic:

The story was recommended to us by Kim Hye-sun, the most imaginative poet in Korea today, and by the former head of the Literature Translation Institute, Korea, Kim Joo-Yeon. Ju-Chan loved it; it’s one of the best stories she’s read in a long time. It was well written and clever, playful and witty, yet serious and sad all at the same time. In particular, we thought the author’s light touch with weighty subject matter—dementia—would appeal to English-language readers, who often comment to us that modern Korean fiction is too gloomy.

Kim Hyesoon

That poet mentioned is Kim Hyesoon (an old friend of the blog), who has just been shortlisted for a major poetry translation award. LOL.. so, actually no award yet, but I have high hopes.

The award is the 2015 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation and the shortlist is pretty impressive:

• Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream by Kim Hyesoon (Action Books), translated from the Korean by Don Mee Choi
• I Am the Beggar of the World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), translated from the Pashto by Eliza Griswold
• Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz by Juana Inés de la Cruz (W. W. Norton & Company), translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman
• Breathturn into Timestead by Paul Celan (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), translated from the German by Pierre Joris
• Guantanamo by Frank Smith (Les Figues Press), translated from the French by Vanessa Place

Kim Hyesoon is one of the most overtly feminist poets in Korea, and her translations by fellow poet Don Mee Choi are always quite expressive, interesting, and like Pig on Grass quite earthy.^^