The Rare Poetry Post (Featuring Ko Un & Brother Anthony of Taize)

I’m not much a translated poetry fan myself, partly because I’ve had to work on editing translated poetry and it is incredibly difficult to do right (if that is even the proper word?). But Brother Anthony of Taize is the man for the job, if the job can be done, and Ko Un (perhaps Korea’s current pre-eminent hope for a Nobel Literature Prize) is the poet to do it to. 😉

Also, judging by hits and inquiries at KTLIT, Ko Un is relatively popular in the English speaking readerati. Over at the Korea Times, there is an article on a complete translation of Ko’s poems. That makes it a relatively epic project, considering that “The Thousand Lives” alone is currently on its 20th volume and is some 300 pages long!

The times says:

The collection epitomizes his life-long dedication to modern Korean literature and gives a brief biography of his life along with explaining the periodical characteristics of his poems.

If you’re a fan of translated poetry, check it out!