Last updated January 4, 2010
Translations by Brother Anthony, of Taize

(This page is entirely devoted to translations of Korean literature. See my other Books page for my books about Korean tea, about European and English literature / culture / history, and translations from French.)

Sample translations are available separately for easier access, poetry  and fiction

Click for a PDF file listing all my published books, plus a brief Biography


Published translations of Korean literature   |  Translations in periodicals   |  Articles about Korean literature  | Articles about English literature

Published Translations of Korean Literature
                (books currently available are shown in bold print)
 
 (In chronological order of first publication, grouped by author below)
Author Title Publisher & Date
  Poetry

1. Ku Sang Wastelands of Fire // Wasteland Poems Forest Books 1990 // DapGae 2000
2. Ku Sang A Korean Century  (Christopher's River; Diary of the Fields)
 Forest Books 1991 (Out of print)
3. Ku Sang Infant Splendor  (Online text and images)
 Samseong 1991 (Out of print)
4. Kim Kwang-kyu Faint Shadows of Love Forest Books 1991 (Out of print)
5. Ko Un The Sound of my Waves Cornell EAS 1991 // Cornell - DapGae
6. Midang, So Chong-ju Early Lyrics Forest Books 1991 // Cornell - DapGae 1998
7. Ch'on Sang-pyong Back to Heaven Cornell EAS 1995 // Cornell - DapGae 1996
8. Ko Un What? : 108 Zen Poems (formerly  Beyond Self) Parallax (Berkeley) 2008 (1997)
9. Shin Kyong-nim Farmers' Dance Cornell - DapGae 1999
10. Kim Su-young
Shin Kyong-nim
Lee Si-young		 Variations Cornell 2001
 **. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry Columbia UP 2004
11. Ku Sang Even the Knots on Quince Trees Tell Tales DapGae 2004
12. Ku Sang Eternity Today Seoul Selection 2005
13. Kim Young-Moo Virtual Reality DapGae 2005
14. Kim Kwang-kyu The Depths of a Clam White Pine Press 2005
15. Ko Un Ten Thousand Lives Green Integer (Los Angeles) 2005
16. Kim Kwang-Kyu
 A Journey to Seoul
 DapGae 2006
17. Ko Un
 Flowers of a Moment
 BOA 2006
18. Chonggi Mah
 Eyes of Dew
 White Pine Press 2006
19. Special Children
 Poems for Planting Love
 Seoul Selection 2008
20. Ko Un
 Songs for Tomorrow
 Green Integer 2009



  Fiction

1. Yi Mun-yol The Poet Harvill Press 1994 / Vintage 2001
2. Lee Oyoung The General's Beard / Phantom Legs Homa & Sekey 2002
3. Ko Un Little Pilgrim Parallax (Berkeley) 2005



  Non-fiction

1. Mok Sun-Ok
 My Husband the Poet
 Seoul Selection 2006


Ku Sang (1919 - 2004). Ku Sang grew up in North Korea, studied the Philosophy of Religion in Tokyo, then returned to Korea to begin a lifelong career in journalism. With the rise of the Communists in the North after Liberation in 1945, he was forced to flee Southward when he learned that his poems did not please the censors. He was from a Catholic family (his brother was a priest, for which he was killed) and his poems combine Asian religious imagery with a Catholic understanding without dogmatism. He shunned overly 'poetic' styles and enjoyed writing spontaneous poems provoked by momentary glimpses of things.

1)  Wasteland Poems: Poems by Ku Sang. A bilingual edition by  DapGae (Seoul) You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.
(Originally published in English as Wastelands of Fire by Forest Books, 1990)

2) Infant Splendor. Poems by Ku Sang, Paintings by Jung Kwang. Seoul: Samseong Publishing Co, 1990 (The title is linked to a complete online edition of poems and paintings since the book was only printed in 1000 copies, and will never be republished. The combination of paintings and poems deserves to be better known.)
        (Out of print, click here for the full text on-line without the paintings)

3) River and Fields: a Korean Century. London: Forest Books, 1991
        (Out of print, full texts on-line: Christopher's River; Diary of the Fields)


4)  Even the Knots on Quince Trees Tell Tales. 2004. A bilingual edition by  DapGae (Seoul)
You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.



5)  Eternity Today. Seoul: Seoul Selection. 2005.
(A selection of poems from the various volumes, organized according to themes: Mystery of Meeting, River, Fields, Sin and Grace, and Eternity Today.) Order from Seoul Selection

Read about Ku Sang (1919 - 2004). Read his Obituary in the Independent (London) or an obituary article in the Yonhap News.

Read extracts from Wasteland Poems, River and Fields

Read the Introduction to Even the Knots on Quince Trees Tell Tales and the first ten poems of Even the Knots (as well as the poet's Epilogue)

Kim Kwang-kyu (1941 - ) was a Professor of German literature until he retired recently. His first poetic activity involved the translation of German poetry into Korean, an activity which he has continued until now, to great acclaim. This gave him the impulse to start writing Korean poetry in a style owing nothing to Korean poetic conventions. Heine, Eich and Brecht taught him the value of subtle humor in writing satirical poems and his early work was hailed for its skill in mocking the military dictatorships. Much of his work is concerned with the mediocrity of life in conformist society as compared to youthful dreams and ideals, but viewed with rueful smiles rather than anger. He is now one of Korea's senior poets, but he has never belonged to any particular group or clique.

1)  Faint Shadows of Love. London: Forest Books, 1991  (For ever out of print, see next items)


2)       The Depths of a Clam. Selected poems by Kim Kwang-Kyu. Buffalo: White Pine Press, 2005.

Translated in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim. This selection includes a good number of poems previously published in Faint Shadows of Love, as well as poems from other collections published since then.   ISBN 978 I 893996 43 4  Order from Amazon.com


3)        A Journey to Seoul: Selected poems by Kim Kwang-Kyu  A bilingual edition by DapGae (Seoul). 2006.
The poems in this volume were either previously published in Faint Shadows of Love or were translated later but were not included in The Depths of a Clam. Order from Seoul Selection.

Read about Kim Kwang-kyu (1941 - ). Read extracts from Faint Shadows of Love

Ko Un (this links to his own Home Page in English) (1933 - )  Korea's best-known poet, worldwide, his  works have been translated into at least 15 languages so far. His life has taken dramatic turns; born in rural western Korea, became a Buddhist monk during the Korean War, then quit to become a nihilist, in the 1970s he became the main spokesman of the opposition to dictatorship, he was arrested at the coup in 1980 and spent 2 years in prison. Since the 1980s he has published an enormous number of books--many kinds of poetry, novels, essays . . . and since the 1990s he has travelled widely, giving electrifying readings in almost every continent. His 30-volume Maninbo (Ten Thousand Lives), a celebration of every person he has ever encountered, is due to have its last 4 volumes published early in 2010.

Click here for a comprehensive biography of Ko Un

Read about Ko Un (1933 - ).   Read extracts from The Sound of My Waves / What? / Maninbo

1) The Sound of my Waves  Selected Poems,  translated in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim.

A bilingual edition by DapGae (Seoul) and Cornell East Asia Series, 1996.
(Originally published in English only by Cornell East Asia Series, 1993, out of print) You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.


2)    What? : 108 Korean Zen Poems. (First published in 1997 as Beyond Self) Berkeley: Parallax Press, 2008 (online review)
 



3)      Little Pilgrim. A Buddhist novel. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 2005.(in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim) Order from Amazon.com

ISBN 1 888375 43 4    Read my article : Ko Un's Little Pilgrim (Hwaom-kyong): A Modern Korean Pilgrim's Progress


4)      Ten Thousand Lives. A selection from Volumes 1 - 10 of Ko Un's monmental series Maninbo  Translated in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim and Gary G. Gach (link to Gary's website about this volume).
With an Introduction by Robert Hass. Green Integer 123. Kobenhavn & Los Angeles: Green Integer Press. 2005. ISBN  I 933382 06 6
Please order from the publisher. Read a very kind online review in Poetry.about.com

5)         Flowers of a Moment. Translated in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim and Gary G. Gach

 BOA Editions, Lannan Translation Series. 2006.  Cloth  ISBN: 1-929918-87-9  Paper:  ISBN: 1-929918-88-7 Order from BOA   or from Amazon.com

Many poems by Ko Un have been published in reviews. For a list of these, and for links to articles and reviews etc about his work, please click here.


6)       Songs for Tomorrow. Translated in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim and Gary G. Gach

Green Integer Kobenhavn & Los Angeles: Green Integer Press. 2009. ISBN 1 933382 70 8 (photo does not show actual cover design!) Please order from the publisher rather than from Amazon.com!


Midang, So Chong Ju  (1915 - 2000). For many years Korea's leading poet, Midang gave recognition and encouragement to a very large number of young poets. He was always strongly inclined to the conservative side and enjoyed great power during the dictatorships; this brought a hostile reaction when democracy came. His early poems were intensely lyrical and of great power but their impact can hardly be conveyed in translation. Later poems seem shallow by comparison, and there is little agreement as to what his enduring legacy will be.

The Early Lyrics, 1941-1960. A bilingual edition published by DapGae (Seoul) and Cornell East Asia Series, 1998   (Originally published in English by Forest Books, London in 1991) (review article). You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.
This book contains the complete text of Midang's first four volumes, which may be viewed online:
    Flower Snake Poems
    Nightingale
    Selected Poems of So Chong-Ju
    Essence of Silla

Some of these poems have been or will be set to music. Here is a link to one such composition.

Read about Midang, So Chong-ju (1915 - 2000). Read extracts from Early Lyrics 1941-1960

Yi Mun-yol (1947 - ) is one of Korea's leading novellists. The defection of his father to the Northern side in the Korean War meant that his family had to suffer discrimination and suspicion in the years following. He was unable to complete the university studies he wished and as a result became an independent autodidact, fascinated by the Chinese classics and belonging to no identifiable clique, although always politically conservative. His works have sometimes been very popular, especially Son of Man, his first major novel, but they have had little resonance in translation and remain little known outside of Korea.

  The Poet. London: The Harvill Press, (Random House: Vintage) 1995 / 2001  ISBN 1 86046 896 9

(Translation in collaboration with Chung Chong-hwa)
This seems to be out of print, but many cheap second-hand copies are listed by Amazon.com.


Yi Mun-Yol wrote an essay on American attitudes to Korea for the 50th anniversary of the Armistice, published first in the New York Times.

Ch'on Sang-pyong (1930 - 1993) was an excentric character, unable to hold a job and with an innocence that left him extremely fragile. His friends used to give him small sums to keep him going. Arrested and tortured because some of his friends had visited the North Korean embassy in East Berlin, he nearly died in 1970, had a serious breakdown the following year, and only survived thanks to the care of a friend's sister who lived with him as a Platonic wife for the last 20 years. His poems are delightful and devoid of all pretence.

Back to Heaven. Ithaca: Cornell East Asia Series, 1995 (English only) also available in a bilingual edition published by DapGae (Seoul) and Cornell East Asia Series in 1996  You may buy this through Seoul Selection's home page.

(Translation in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim)  (on-line review)

Read about Ch'on Sang-pyong (1930 - 1993). Read extracts from Back to Heaven    Read the whole volume

Read Ch'on's Notes on Writing Poetry    Visit the "Kwichon" home page (so far only in Korean)

Read other articles about Chon

Visit the home page of Ch'on's long-haired friend Lee Oesoo

See also, below,  My Husband the Poet by Mok Sun-Ok, Ch'on Sang-Pyong's wife, in which she tells her own life story and that of her husband.

 

Shin Kyong-Nim (1935 - ) wrote a few poems then vanished for 10 years, working as a building laborer, a salesman, among the rural and urban poor. He published Farmers' Dance to great acclaim among the writers who advocated socially aware poetry and continued to write powerful poetry with powerful rhythms. He is now one of Korea's senior literary figures.

   Farmers' Dance. A bilingual edition published by DapGae (Seoul) and Cornell East Asia Series. 1999. You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.

(Translation in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim) (on-line review)

Read my article : Methodologies of Poetry Translation:Translating Shin Kyong-nim's Mokkye- changt'o

Read my article : The Poetry of Shin Kyong-Nim

Read my article :  Poetic Diversities: Social Dimensions of Korean Poetry

Read about Shin Kyong-nim (1935 - ). Read extracts from Farmers' Dance


Kim Su-Young (1921 - 1968), Shin Kyong-Nim (1935 - ), Lee Si-Young (1949 - ) Three writers linked in some ways yet distinct, born 13 years apart. Kim's accidental early death was a serious blow to the reforming wing of Korean writers. Shin (see above) and Lee were among the writers opposing dictatorship and suffering accordingly during the 1980s.

   Variations / Three Korean Poets.  Published in 2001 by Cornell East Asia Series.
(Translation in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim)

Read about, and see a sample of poems by Kim Su-Young,  Shin Kyong-Nim,  Lee Si-Young

Read my article : . Poetic Diversities: Social Dimensions of Korean Poetry

Read a Korea Times article about this book.


Lee Oyoung (1934 - ) was Korea's first Minister of Culture at the time of the Olympic Games. A polymath of great ability, he wrote a small number of stories in the 1960s and published a volume of poetry recently. Otherwise, he is better known as a thinker and a cultural commentator.

   The General's Beard. Published in 2002 by Homa & Sekey. Dumont, NJ, USA
(Contains two novellas, "The General's Beard" & "Phantom Legs") You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.


The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry.
Edited by David R. McCann. Columbia University Press, New York.
2004   ISBN 0 231 11128 2 (cloth)  0 231 111129 0 (paper)
A number of the poems by various poets in this book were translated by me (see a list).

It is a very good introduction to modern Korean poetry.


Kim Young-Moo (1944 - 2001) was a professor of English literature who began to write poetry quite late. He published 3 volumes. We worked together on my early translations, then he developed lung cancer and died soon after the publication of his 3rd volume, mostly devoted to his illness and the time he spent in Australia before he died.

  Virtual Reality. A bilingual edition published by DapGae (Seoul). 2005. You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.
(Translation in colaboration with Jongsook Lee)

Read some poems from  Virtual Reality. Read about  Kim Young-Moo.

Mok Sun-Ok was the wife of he poet Chon Sang-Pyong (see above). She grew up in Hiroshima, her father was killed by the atomic bomb on August 6 1945. Her care for the poet continued after his death and she continues to run the little cafe in Insa-dong she first opened in 1985 while promoting his memory in a variety of cultural festivals etc.

     My Husband the Poet: by Mok Sun-Ok.  Seoul Selection (Seoul). 2006.
This book tells the story of the life of the wife of Ch'on Sang-Pyong, mainly focussing on the years when she cared for him in great poverty, It can be bought through Seoul Selection's home page.

Chonggi Mah has lived in the United States for many years, working as a doctor and teaching in medical school. He has now retired. He wrote poems in Korean and published them in Korea throughout his life abroad and is highly regarded in Korea.

    Eyes of Dew: Selected Poems by Chonggi Mah.  Buffalo: White Pine Press. 2006.
Read about Chonggi Mah and see 5 sample poems.   Read an article about the poet from the Korea Times.

Children with disabilities

      Poems for Planting Love: written by the students of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill. (bilingual) Seoul Selection. 2008
The poems can also be read at Poems for Planting Love but the book is full of paintings and royalties on every copy you buy go to help the children.


Translations completed or under way that have still to be published

 Son of Man, a novel by Yi Mun-yol. Complete

Himalaya Poems by Ko Un   To be published by Green Integer.

Selected poems by Lee Si-Young   Complete

Selected poems by Kim Seung-hui    To be published by Cornell EAS

Complete poems by Kim Yeong-Nang   To be published by MerwinAsia

Selected poems by Ynhee Park  Complete

Three Korean Tea Classics : Yi Mok's ChaBu, Cho-Ui's ChaSinJeon and DongChaSong   To be published by Seoul Selection.

For a large Anthology of 20th-century Korean literature in preparation by KLTI, I have translated or am to translate:

Garuda by Yi Mun-Yol,
Watching Father by Ch'oe Yun,
Variations on Darkness by Kim Won-Il
Off to Battle at Dawn by Pang Hyŏn-sŏk (with Dafna Zur)
The Five Bandits by Kim Chi-Ha
The Shower by Hwang Sun-Won
The Battle of Dragon with Dragon by Sin Ch'ae-Ho
Nakdong-gang by Cho Myong-Hui
Sanch'onch'omok by Yi Hae-Jo

and a variety of poems:

Kim Ki-rim  "Weather Chart"  Sim Hun "When that Day Comes"  Manhae Han Yong-Un "I saw you"  "Love’s Last Act"  Kim Hyŏn-sŭng "Plane tree"  Pak Mok-Wŏl  "Orchid"  Pak Yong-Nae "Evening Snow"  Pak In-Hwan "The Black River" Han Ha-Un "Chŏlla-do Road"  "Barley Flute"  Hwang Dong-Gyu "Snow Falling in the South"  Im Hwa  "The Black Sea Straits"  Yi Sang-Hwa "Morbid Season"   Kim Ch’un-Su "Honeysuckle Leaves"  Yi Pyŏng-Gi  "Manp’okdong"  Chŏng Chi-yong "Sea  9" Kim Chi-Ha “Empty mountain”  Kang Un-Gyo “I Love you”  Kim Tong-Hwan “Night at the Frontier (Part 1)”  Yi Yong-Ak “Cholla maid” &  “Offerings in moonlight” Kim Yong-Nang “The cuckoo”  Ko Un “Fatherland stars”  Kim Nam-Ju “A handful of ash” & “Mister Poet's words”  Kim Yong-T'aek “That girl's house”  Lee Si-Young “Preface”   Chang Chong-Il “Shampoo fairy” & "Dad"  Yi Mun-Jae “The last dawdler” & “The roof of the old house where we used to live”
Translations online not published elsewhere

The Crane by Hwang Sun-Won

Winter that Year  by Yi Mun-Yol
 Translations published in periodicals or anthologies

1. Ten Poems by Kim Su-yong
Korea Journal Vol.37 No. 1 Spring 1997 pages 137-142

2. Ten Poems by Shin Kyong-nim
Korea Journal Vol 37 No. 2 Summer 1997 pages 121-128

3. Su Chung-in: The Plain
Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation)  Vol. 11 No.2 Summer 1997 pages 93-102

4. Poems by Ku Sang & Lee Hae-in
Divine Inspiration: The Life of Jesus in World Poetry. Oxford University Press. 1998

5. "Aspects of Diaspora in Modern Korean Poetry" by Sunghui Kim, translated by Brother Anthony (An Sonjae)
A chapter in Diaspora in Korean (Immigrant) Literature. Ed. Seong-Kon Kim and So-Hee Lee.  The International Association of Comparative Korean Studies and Seoul National University American Studies Institute. 2004. (Contains a number of poems by Kim Donghwan, Im Hwa, Jeon Bonggeon, Bak Namsu, etc.)

6. Poems by Ko Un, Kim Kwang-Kyu, Shin Kyong-Nim
The Poetry of Men's Lives: An International Anthology, edited by Fred Moramarco and Al Zolynas. University of Georgia Press. 2004.

7. Poems by Ko Un, An Do-Hyon, Ku Sang, Midang So Chong-ju have been included in the developing online anthology The Other Voices International Project

8. A chapter from Hwangjini by the north Korean novelist Hong Seok-jung in Literature from the Axis of Evil: Writing from Iran, Iraq, North Korea and other enemy nations. (A Words Without Borders anthology) New York: The New Press. 2006

9. Kim In-Suk: That Woman’s Autobiography
Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 21, No.3 Autumn 2007  pages 88-99

10. Translations of 5 poems each by Ko Un, Kim Seung-Hui, Yi Si-Young and Chonggi Mah are included in the first issue of Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature and Culture (Korea Center, Harvard University, 2007)

11. Translations of 5 poems each by Ko Un, Kim Seung-Hui, Yi Si-Young and Chonggi Mah and 10 poems by Ynhui Park are included as a special "Contemporary Korean Poetry in Translation" section of Damn the Caesars Vol.3 (2007) published in Buffalo NY edited by Richard Owens.

12. Ko Un's poem "Memoirs" and Min Yeong's poem "Before the Grave of the Poem Kim Nam-Ju" are included in Che in Verse, edited by Gavin O'Toole and Georgina Jimenez, Aflame Books, 2007.

13. Poems for Planting Love (A PDF file for Adobe Acrobat)  Very touching and beautiful poems by physically and visually impaired children attending schools run by the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Gwangju and Chungju (Korea) (also published as a book by Seoul Selection, see above)

14. Jeon Seong-Tae: The Forest of Existence
 Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 21, No.4 Winter 2007  pages 88-99

15. Park Min-Gyu: Korean Standards
 Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 22, No.1 Spring 2008  pages 88 - 99  (See Introduction)

16. Nine poems by 3 Korean poets, and poems by Kim Kyŏng-Ju, all published in 2006 (from a 2008 KLTI Anthology) Poems by Lee Jang-Wook (with the Korean texts).

17. Jeong I-Hyeon: Sampung Department Store
Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 22, No.2 Summer 2008  pages 88 - 99  (See Introduction)

18. Ku Hyo-sŏ:  A Bale of Salt 
Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 22, No.4 Winter 2008  pages 88 - 99  (See Introduction)

19. JO Kung Ran: Bought a Balloon
Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 23, No.1 Spring 2009  pages 88 - 99 (see Introduction)

20. Kim Junghyeok: Library of Instruments
Koreana: Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 23, No.3 Autumn 2009  pages 90 - 99 (see Introduction)

Also my translations of Yi Oryong's The General's Beard and Fantom Legs, as well as of selected works of a number of different poets (see below) were published in Korean Literature Today (Korean PEN/KCAF).

Some poems by individual poets, many published in KLT. (See a fuller list of my translated Korean poetry here)

An Do-hyon

An Sang-hak (added 2006)

Chong Sei-hun

Chon Pong-gon

Chon Yang-hui

Hong Yun-suk

Hwang Dong-kyu

Hwang Ji-U

Kim Chang-ho

Kim Chŏl (added 2006)

Kim Chun-su

Kim Hyon-sung

Kim Ju-T'ae (including his lament for Kwangju 1980)

Kim Nam-jo

Kim Nam-Ju (including his lament for Kwangju 1980)

Kim Sung-hui

Kim Yeong-seung  (added 2007)

Kim Yong-Taek (including his lament for Kwangju 1980)

Lee Hyong-ki

Lee Ka-Rim (added 2009)

Lee Song-bu

Mun Dok-su

Oh Sae-young

Yu Kyong-hwan

Yi Su-ik

The translations linked to this page are all Copyright 1998, 1999 - 2004 of Brother Anthony, and may be quoted in the normal way with proper attribution, but may not be re-published in printed or electronic form without the translator's permission.

Articles on various aspects of Korean literature and translation

(Links in the titles give access to the full English text of certain articles)

1. Ku Sang: Authenticity and Commitment
in Korea Journal (Korean National Commission for UNESCO)
Volume 29:3 1989 pages 23-33

2. The Poetic Vision of Kim Kwang-kyu
in Transactions (Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch) 66 (1991)

3. Ko Un's Hwaom-kyong: A Modern Korean Pilgrim's Progress
in Transactions (Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch) 70 (1995)

4. 'The Foreignness of Language' and Literary Translation
in Journal of English Language and Literature
(The English Language and Literature Association of Korea)
Special Number 1996

5. Translation in Practice: A Comedy of Errors
in Munhakkwa ponyok (Yonsei University Literary Translation Study Center)
1996

6. Methodologies of Poetry Translation:
Translating Shin Kyong-nim's Mokkye-changt'o
in Hanguk munhakui Woiguko ponyok
Seoul: Minumsa 1997

7. Translating the Korean Novel
in In Other Words (The Translators Association)
Winter - Spring 1997 no 8/9 pages 72 - 4

8. From Korean History to Korean Poetry: Ko Un and Ku Sang
in World Literature Today
Volume 71 No. 3 Summer 1997 pages 534 - 540

9. Translating Korean Literature: The Reality (in Korean)
in Pen kwa mun hak (Korean PEN)
No. 42, Spring 1997

10. Translating Korean Poetry
in the review Modern Poetry in Translation (King's College, London)
Volume 13 (1998)

11. A Well-Kept Secret: Korean Literature in Translation
in Pictorial Korea

12. Poetic Diversities: Social Dimensions of Korean Poetry
in Language, Culture and Translation: Issues in the Translation of Modern Korean Literature. Centre for Korean Studies, School of East Asian Studies, Universiy of Sheffield. 1999.

13. The Poetry of Shin Kyong-Nim
in Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, 1999.

14. Korean Literature
in P. France, ed., Oxford Guide to Literary Translation in English, Oxford: OUP, 2000.

14. So Chong-Ju and Ko Un: Much Ado About Something
in The Korea Times, June 6, 2001

15. Literary Translation from Korean into English: A Study in Criteria
in Translation and Literature,.University of Edinburgh. Volume 11, Part 1 (Spring 2002) 72 - 87

16. Translating and the Translated : Putting Korean Literature on the World Scene
(in Korean translation) in the Korean monthly review Munhak SasangLiterature & Thought 2004. 3. pages 154 - 164

17. Translating Korean fiction into English: theory and practice
A talk given at an international conference on Korean Language Education and Korean Literature across the World, organized by the Kookmin University Language Research Institute, Kookmin University, Seoul on November 19 2004. Not likely to be published.

18. Pain and Truth: A pilgrimage with some Korean poets
in Kyoto Journal, 60, July 2005

19. After Frankfurt : Globalizing Korean Literature Continues
(published in a Korean translation) in Munhak Sasang (Literature & Thought) December 2005. pages 299 - 305

20.  Songs for Tomorrow: Korean Poetry.  A talk / poetry reading given in Kyoto (Japan) at the invitation of the editors of Kyoto Journal, January 22, 2006.

 21. The publication of translations of Korean literature in English. A presentation given at the start of a discussion at a conference on translation in Ewha Womaens University, Seoul, in mid-2006.

22. Book review of : Hahn, Moo-Sook, And So Flows History. Translated by Young-Key Kim-Renaud. Published in Acta Koreana Volume 9 Number 2 (July 2006. Keimyung University, Daegu, Korea) Pages 202 - 211

23. Translating Korean Literature. A short text for the Changbi Weekly Commentary, a blog run by the Korean publishing company / review. Available online in Korean translation

24. Translating Modern Korean Poetry. A paper presented at the 1st World Translators' Conference "Korean Culture in Europe: Achievements and Prospects" organized by LTI Korea, held in Seoul September 13-14, 2007.

25. Translating Literature in the 21st Century. A paper presented at the Fall 2007 Conference of the 21st century English Language and Literature Association of Korea held in Joseon University, Gwangju, September 15, 2007.

26. Buddhist-Christian perspectives in Korean poetry.  An essay published in the Autumn 2007 issue of The Japan Mission Journal (Tokyo: Oriens Institute for Religious Research) pages 204 - 216.

27. The Joys of Translating: A lecture given to the Korean Open Cyber University on December 15, 2007.

28. Korean Patriot and Tea Master: Hyodang Choi Beom-Sul (1904-1979)  in the International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture (Dongguk University, Seoul), Volume 10, February 2008. pages 59 - 86

29. Translating Contemporary Korean Poetry and Evaluating Translations. An expanded essay based on a presentation given during a translation workshop at Seoul National University in the summer of 2008. Not published.

30. Spatial Limitations in the Translation and Globalization of Korean Poetry. A paper given at the 2008 Manhae Festival, published in Korean in the journal Siwa Simunhak

31. The Perfect Translation: Impossible Dream. A paper presented at a conference about translation held in Dongguk University, Seoul, November 29, 2008, and quoting portions of the previous text.

32. Medievalism and Joan Grigsby’s The Orchid Door, in Medieval and Early Modern English Studies Volume 17, No. 1 (2009) pp. 147-167.


A few other articles about Ko Un and Chon Sang-Pyong 


You may like to read an unpublished article that includes a summary history of the main developments of Korean poetry in earlier centuries and up to 1945 and suggests some ways in which this history continues to influence the writing and reading of poetry in Korea today.

The text of a short book (not by me) summarizing the main characteristics of 20th-century Korean literature   It can be very useful.

Korean Literature Today

I helped publish the first five volumes of a quarterly review Korean Literature Today, most volumes of which have been put online. KLT contains translations of Korean poetry, fiction, drama, with occasional critical essays. There is an Alphabetical Index of the whole series with links to all that is available online.


Bookstores
 

DapGae Books, Room 201, Won Building, 829-22 Bangbae 4-dong, Socho-ku, Seoul 137-064 Korea
Tel. (82) (02) 591-8267  Fax 594-0464

You may buy books about Korea, including most of the above, through Seoul Selection's home page. You can buy the DapGae books and many other translations online.

For Cornell East Asia Series books, there is an Online Bookstore. They have published 18 volumes related to Korea, almost all of them literary translations.

 Here is a list of some on-line bookstores in the US and the UK.