I was lucky enough to attend the 37th (?) Swedish Literary Society meeting at the Foreign Press Club. This was a notable event because it brought internationally famous Korean poet Ko Un (here is his biography by Brother Anthony), back to the event (He also kicked off the series many years ago). The Swedish Ambassador…
Magnolia and Lotus: Selected Poems of Hyesim (Published by White Pine Press with the support of The Literature Translation Institute of Korea) begins with an introductory section of fifteen pages which while, plainly narrative and historical (as it has to be for western readers from whom much of the tradition from which this poetry flows might be…
KTLIT has been in contact with Korean poet Jeongrye Choi, about an interview…. Her book of translated poems in English is “Instances” and here is a teaser and some biographical information. Catkind cats don’t grow to be tigers as a rose unfurls the blossom thorns fiercely wait there are tigers in all cats petals roll like small, unfolded tongues yellow eyeballs dizzy as moonlight running through centuries cats in their silver sleep grind teeth and clench claws cherishing the wild dreams of blood look inside any cat and there! the apricot of a tiger’s eye, shuddering like an apricot tree crouched in by an eagle At our request, Choi sent an updated short-bio:…
According to the the London Book Fair website, “The British Council, in partnership with The Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) is delighted to announce the Korea Market Focus Cultural Programme for The London Book Fair 2014. This year’s Cultural Programme involves ten of Korea’s most prominent and exciting writers who represent the very…
The BBC has produced a 25 minute audio-documentary on Korean Poet Ko Un called Ko Un: The People’s Poet of Korea. The documentary includes a plummy-voiced BBC announcer, lightly plucked gayageum, both Korean and English versions of Ko’s poetry, and commentary from a variety of sources who kind of sum Ko up as “embodying” South…
Ko Un, as he has done for years, continues to increase the profile of Korean poetry abroad. Ko has been a tireless traveler, promoter, and most importantly of all consistent writer. I should also say, that his work has generally been extremely well translated by Brother Anthony of Taize, and that his poetry seems fundamentally…
An article from World Literature Today about the need to, ‘Reterritorialize Working-class Literature in Contemporary Korea.‘ It’s interesting because it seems as though the author has all the details and history right, but then comes to a conclusion that does not seem sensible to me. And, yeah, I know that anyone who uses the word…
Previously: I) Hyangga and Koryeo Kasa II) Sijo & Kasa III) Classical Fiction IV) Pansori Korean classical literature. It’s forms are different, its themes are different, its style is different, even who can be considered a “writer” is different. And even among these meta-changes, internal changes, struggles and disagreements existed, so across the nearly 150…
Yesterday I began my quick canvas of Korean literature with a discussion of Hyangga and Koryeo Kasa, today that continues with Sijo (perhaps the most popular modern form of Korean Poetry) and Kasa from the Joseon Dynasty.. Sijo and Gasa During the Joseon period (1392 – 1897) the focus of Korean poetry shifted to the…
Once again, for those who prefer the scratchy spoken word to the written. This is the audio file of Tuesday’s 1013 Main Street on TBS eFM on which I discussed the poetry of Ko Un and how he is like (and unlike) Kim Hyesoon and how their poetics differ, although occasionally focusing on similar meta-themes.…