Chapters 1 / 2 / 3 / 4/ Korea’s literary preference has historically been towards poetry and song. In pre-print cultures this is common as the rhythm and rhyme of poetry make it easier to memorize. Even when reliable tools for writing were perfected, the survival of written materials could be quite uncertain. Unless writing is inscribed in rock,…
Chapters 1 / 2 / 3 / 4/ Korea has a long-standing literary tradition and literature has always occupied a position of high cultural importance. Korea for instance, is number one per capita internationally in poetry publications per person . Korea’s history is thoroughly represented in its literature, and its literature is often centered on arguments or representations about…
Chapters 1 / 2 / 3 / 4/ Almost every English language reader would immediately recognize the words “”Gregor Samsa awoke one morning to discover that he had been transformed into a giant cockroach.” as the first line of Franz Kafka’s masterpiece The Metamorphosis, a work that helped define his style and changed literature forever. Quote to an English reader…
무료 무료 무료 무료 [인터뷰/사인회] 이기호 작가와 3명의 차세대 작가들이 함께하는 이벤트! 2015년 12월 19일 (토요일), 소설가 이기호, 금희, 백수린, 이장욱이 독자들과 직접 만나 소통하는 특별한 만남으로 여러분께 다가갑니다. 이기호 작가의 ‘권순찬과 착한 사람들’, 금희 작가의 ‘옥화’, 백수린 작가의 ‘시차’, 그리고 이장욱 작가의 ‘올드…
(Charles Montgomery charles@ktlit.com) What in the name of God is wrong with Asia Publishers and Amazon and what is it in their interaction(s) that stops them from selling Korean literature in translation? Today I wrote an article about Cheon Myeong-kwan and his excellent book Homecoming (review) so he went to Amazon and ordered it. Amazon promptly…
On Wednesday November 2nd, Cheon Myeong–kwan (Homecoming, Modern Family) Family won 10,000,00 won at the Ku Sang annual literature award (With the assistance of Asia Publishers). I was lucky enough to not only be invited (I had created the international judging panel), but to present the check as well. A lot of awards were given,…
Convalescence, by Han Kang, is perhaps her most formulaic work in translation – it fits it well with late Pak Wansuh’s Identical Apartments: Jeon Seung-hee’s “Kong’s Garden, Bae Suah’s Green Apples; and a host of novellas that all essentially tell the same story, albeit in slightly different ways – the story of the alienation of the young woman…
The GREAT Lee Ki-ho and three equally skilled authors writing about the Korean/foreign interface. (For Faceebook people who want to share on other platforms: https://www.ktlit.com/4-great-korean-authors-interviewed-bilingually-dec-19-2015-lee-ki-ho-baik-sou-inne-geum-lee-and-lee-jang-wook/ 한국문학을 밝히는 젊고 창의적인 4 명의 작가들을 12월 19일에 서울에서 만나보세요. 이 특출난 한국 작가들이 명동에 위치한 서울글로벌문화체험센터에서 작품을 낭독하고 인터뷰를 할 예정입니다. (한국어와 영어로!) 질의응답 시간에 작가들에게 질문도 할 수…
The Wikipedia Project, while slowed down, still continues, mainly focusing on books from the excellent bilingual books from Asia Publishers. And so, today, with the help of Kim Mi-ri, two more pages go up. The first is of Yun I-hyeong the author of “Danny” (Asia Publishers) a book about the meaning of family and relationships in…
And so I did in the annual LTI Korea Video Contest ‘Visualize ME!” with my entry on Kim Yu-Jeong’s “The Heat of the Sun” a tragic story of love and illness in colonial Korea. Also, I might note, a story that is available from LTI Korea’s brilliant “classical literature” online collection. I really didn’t see…