Last
updated Janyary 25, 2024, Translations of Korean literature by
Brother Anthony of Taizé
(This page is entirely devoted to
translations of Korean literature. See my
other Books page for my
books of Korean tales or 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
(In chronological order of first publication, grouped by
author below)(books
currently
available
are
shown
in
bold
print)
The Research
Foundation of Korean Church History 2022
Translations grouped by author, in chronological order of
the first work by each author published
Books without a picture are out of print
Ku Sang 구상
(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 in North Korea at the start of the Korean
War) 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.
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)
1) Wasteland
Poems: Poems by Ku Sang. Translated by
Brother Anthony of Taizé.
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, out of print)
2) Infant Splendor. Poems
by Ku Sang, Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé.
Paintings by Jung Kwang. (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.)
Seoul: Samseong Publishing Co,
1990 (Out
of print, click here for the full
text on-line
without the paintings)
3) River and
Fields: a Korean Century. Translated by
Brother Anthony of Taize
(A selection of poems from the various volumes,
translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé, organized
according to themes: Mystery of Meeting, River,
Fields, Sin and Grace, and Eternity
Today.)
Kim Kwang-kyu was a Professor
of German literature until he retired. 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.
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 Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé.
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
Ko Un 고은
(this links to his own Home Page in English or
Korean)
(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.
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.
2)
What? : 108 Korean Zen Poems.Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé in
collaboration with Young-Moo Kim(First published in 1997 as Beyond Self)
Berkeley: Parallax
Press, 2008 Table of
Contents
4)
Ten Thousand Lives. A selection from
Volumes 1 - 10 of Ko Un's monumental series ManinboTable of Contents
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé in
collaboration with Young-Moo
Kim and Gary
G. Gach. With an Introduction by Robert Hass.
Green Integer 123. Kobenhavn & Los Angeles: Green Integer
Press. 2005. ISBN I 933382 06 6
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!The printed version is out of print, a digital edition can
be ordered
from the publisher.
7) 차령이 뽀뽀 / ChaRyong's
Kiss. Translated by Brother Anthony of
Taizé in collaboration with Lee Sang-Wha.
11) (20)
Poems by Ko Un. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé
in collaboration with Lee Sang-Wha
ASIA Publishing K-Poets Series No. 1.
2017. ISBN:979-1156623195
.
12)
Ten Thousand Lives: Maninbo Volumes 21-25
Translated by Brother Anthony of
Taizé in collaboration with Lee Sang-Wha
Green Integer Kobenhavn & Los Angeles: Green
Integer Press. 2022. ISBN:
978-0-940650-00-8.
13) Ten Thousand
Lives: Maninbo Volumes 26-30 Translated by
Brother Anthony of Taizé in collaboration with Lee
Sang-Wha
Green Integer Kobenhavn & Los Angeles: Green Integer
Press. 2022. ISBN: 978-1933382425.
So Chong Ju 서
정주
(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.
Yi Mun-yol 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. Translation by Brother Anthony of Taizé in
collaboration with Chung Chong-hwa.
London: The Harvill Press 1995. Harvill were bought up
by RH and the copies transferred to Random
House: Vintage 2001 ISBN 1 86046 896 9
Son of
Man.
Translation by Brother Anthony of Taizé
Chon Sang-pyong was as 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
pretense.
Back to
Heaven.Translation by Brother Anthony of Taizé in
collaboration with Young-Moo
Kim)
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 신경림
(1935 - )
Shin
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.Translation by Brother Anthony of Taizé in
collaboration with Young-Moo
Kim
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.
Translation by
Brother Anthony of Taizé in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim)
Lee 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.Translated
by Brother Anthony of Taizé.
Published in 2002 by Homa
& Sekey. Dumont, NJ, USA
A number of the poems by various poets in this book were
translated by me (see a list).
Kim
Young-Moo 김영무
(1944 - 2001)
Young-moo
Kim 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 throughSeoul
Selection's home page.
(Translation by Brother Anthony of Taizé in colaboration with Jongsook Lee)
Mok Sun-ok was the wife of
the 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 continued to run "Kwichon",
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.Translated by
Brother Anthony of Taizé. 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,
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 as a poet in
Korea.
Eyes of Dew:
Selected Poems by Chonggi Mah. Translated by Brother
Anthony of Taizé. Buffalo: White Pine Press.
2006.
Poems for
Planting Love: written by the students of
the special schools founded by the Sisters of Charity of
Seton Hill. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé
(bilingual) Seoul
Selection. 2008
The poems can also be read atPoems
for Planting Lovebut the book is full of paintings and royalties on
every copy you buy go to help the children.
Kim Yeong-Nang 김영랑
(1903-1950)
Kim spent most of his life in Gangjin
(South Jeolla Province) but moved to Seoul after 1945
and was killed in the early months of the Korean War,
not yet 50, having written most of his poems during
the Japanese occupation of Korea (1919-1945). In Korea
he is celebrated for the lyrical musicality of his
style but this bilingual edition of his complete
poetic work makes plain his commitment to Korean
independence from Japan as well as his anguish at the
fratricidal violence that Korea experienced between
1945 and 1950.
Until Peonies
Bloom: The Complete Poems of Kim Yeong-Nang.
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé.
Portland: MerwinAsia.
2010
Three Korean Tea Classics
Yi Mok's ChaBu, Cho-Ui's ChaSinJeon and DongChaSong
translated by by Brother Anthony of Taizé, Hong
Keong-Hee, Steven D. Owyoung.
This richly annotated and illustrated book contains the
Chinese text and translations of 3 fundamental texts of
Korean Tea culture: ChaBu, Rhapsody to Tea
by Hanjae Yi Mok; ChaSinJeon, A Chronicle of the Spirit
of Tea and DongChaSong, Hymn in Praise of Korean Tea by
the Venerable Cho-ui. It includes short biographies of
the two masters of the Korean Way of Tea. Published by
Seoul Selection. ISBN: 9788991913660
Kim Seung-Hee
김승희
(1952 - )
Kim
Seung-Hee was born in Gwangju (South Jeolla
Province) and studied at Sogang University
(Seoul), where she is now a professor in the
Korean Department. As a poet, she is often
described as a "feminist surrealist."
Walking
on a Washing Line. Bilingual text. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé in
collaboration with Lee Hyung-Jin. Ithaca: Cornell
East
Asia Series
Hope is
Lonely by Kim Seung-Hee. Bilingual text.
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé. Introduced by John
Kinsella. Arc
Publications. (Visible Poets 45) 2021.
ISBN: 9781911469766
Hong Yunsook 홍윤숙
(1925 - 2015)
Hong
Yunsook was born in northern Korea. She is one
of Korea's most celebrated senior poets. She
received the 2012 Ku Sang Literary Award.
Sunlight in
a Distant Place. Bilingual text.
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé. Edited
by Chan E. Park. Foreign
Language Publications. The Ohio State
University. 2012.
Ynhui Park 박이문
(1930 - 2017)
Ynhui
Park is better known in Korea by his pen-name Park
Imun (박이문). He did a first doctorate on French
literature in the Sorbonne then moved to the US and
did a second PhD on Merleau-Ponty. He taught
philosophy for 20 years at Simmons College in Boston
before returning to Korea. He is one of Korea's
foremost philosophers. He has also published several
volumes of poetry in Korean as well as one of poems
he wrote in English.
Shadows of
the Void. Translated by Brother
Anthony of Taizé.Seoul Selection.
2014.
Lee
Si-Young was born in Masan-myeon, Gurye-gun,
South Jeolla province, in 1949. His first volume
of poetry was published in 1976. For more than
20 years he was managing editor of Changbi
publishers. He is now Professor in
charge of the International Creative Writing
Center at Dankook University and President of
the Korean Writers Association. Translations of
a selection of his earlier poems were included
in the volume Variations (no. 10 in the
list above)
Patterns.
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé with
Yoo Hui-Sok. Green
Integer. 2014.
Kim Soo-Bok was born in Hamyang, South
Gyeongsang Province, Korea, in 1953. He graduated from
the Korean Language and Literature Department of
Dankook University, Seoul, and continued his studies
there to the completion of his doctorate. His first
poems were published in 1975. His published poetry
collections include Jirisan taryeong (Ballad of Mount
Jiri, 1977); Naje naon bandal (Half moon appearing by
day, 1980); Saereul gidarimyeo (Waiting for birds,
1988); Ttodareun saweol (Another April, 1989);
Gidohaneun namu (Praying Trees, 1989); Modeun
gildeureun noraereul bureunda (All the roads are
singing, 1999); Sarajin Pokpo (The vanished waterfall,
2003); Umurui nundongja (The eye of the well, 2004);
Dareul ttara geonda (Walking after the moon, 2008);
Oibak (Sleeping out, 2012). He has received the
Pyeonun Award and the Award for Lyric Poetry. He is at
present a professor in the Creative Writing Department
of Dankook University.
Beating on
Iron. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé
Do Jong Hwan was born in 1954 in
Cheong-ju, North Chungcheong Province, he became a
published poet some years after he began work as a
high school teacher. The death by cancer of his wife
in 1985, just two years after they married, and a few
months after the birth of their second child, inspired
him to write a volume of love poems, Hollyhock You,
which brought him critical acclaim and instant fame.
It has sold over one million copies. He has been a
member of the main opposition party in the Korean
National Assembly since 2012. He has received a number of major
literary awards, including the 2009 Jeong Ji-yong
Award, the 2010 Yun Dong-ju Award, the 2011 Baek
Seok Award, and the 2012 Gong Cho Award.
No Flower
Blooms Without Wavering,
poems by Do Jong-Hwan, translated by Brother Anthony of
Taizé and Jinna Park
Oh Sae-young was born in Yeonggwang,
South Jeolla Province, in 1942. He studied at the
Korean Language and Literature Department of Seoul
National University, where he later taught for many
years as a professor. He is now an Emeritus Professor
there. He began his literary career in April 1965,
when his first poems were published in the review
Hyeondae Munhak. He has published some twelve volumes
of poetry as well as a number of volumes of literary
essays. He has received several awards for his work.
Night-Sky
Checkerboard Poems by Oh Sae-Young,
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé
Phoneme
Media 2016 ISBN: 978-1-939419-47-7
Read
a review by Mark Magoon in the Chicago Review
of Books
Read
a review by John W. W. Zeiser in Words without
Borders
Shim Bo-Seon was born in Seoul in 1970,
studied sociology at Seoul National University, and
received his PhD from Columbia University, New York.
He made his debut in the Chosun Ilbo Annual Spring
Literary Contest in 1994 and published his first
collection, Seulpeumi opneun sip o cho (Fifteen
Seconds without Sorrow), in 2008. This was followed by
Nunape opneun saram (Someone Not in Sight ) in 2011
and Geueurin yesul (Smoked Art) in 2013. He is
currently a professor of Culture and Art Management at
Kyung-Hee Cyber University. He is also a member of the
Twenty-First Century Prospect Writer's Group.
Fifteen
Seconds Without Sorrow
Poems by Shim Bo-Seon. Translated
by Chung Eun-Gwi and Brother
Anthony of Taizé
Jeong
Ho-seung is the most widely read and loved poet in Korea
today. His poems express the joys and sorrows of life in
ways that are immediately accessible to people of all
ages. Born in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, in
1950, Jeong Ho-Seung grew up in Daegu. He graduated from
the Korean Language and Literature Department of
Kyung-Hee University in Seoul, where he also completed a
Master’s degree. He gained recognition as a poet when he
won a Spring Literary Award from the Joseon Ilbo
newspaper. In 1982 he won a similar award for a work of
fiction but his literary career has been focussed on
poetry.
His first published poetry collection was Seulpeumi
gippeumege (Sorrow to joy, 1979); this was followed by
Seoului yesu (Seoul’s Jesus, 1982); then came Saebyeok
pyeonji (Dawn letter, 1987), Byeolteureun ttatteuthada
(Stars are warm, 1990), Saranghadaga jugeobeoryeora
(Love, then die, 1997), Oerounikka saramida (Human
because lonely, 1998), Nunmuri namyeon gichareul tara
(If tears flow, take a train, 1999), I jalbeun sigan
dongan (During this short moment, 2004), Poong (Embrace,
2007), Bapgap (Earing My Keep), 2010, and Yeohaeng
(Journey, 2013). He received the Seoul City Literary
Award in 1989. He has also received the Jeong Ji-yong
Literary Award, the Pyeonun Literary Award, the Sanghwa
Poetry Award and the Gongcho Literary Award.
A Letter Not
Sent Poems by Jeong Ho-Seung.
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé and Susan Hwang.
Seoul
Selection 2016. ISBN:
978-1-62412-075-6
"I have spent the last hours reading your marvelous
translations of Jeong Ho-seung’s poems, with a mixture of
wonder, admiration, and pure delight." (Christopher Merrill,
Director, International Writing Program, University of Iowa)
Though
flowers fall, I have never forgotten you Poems
by Jeong Ho-Seung. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé and
Susan Hwang. Seoul
Selection 2016.
ISBN: 978-1-62412-077-0
Ko Hyeong-ryeol was born in 1954 in
Sokcho, Gangwon-do, on the East coast of Korea just
south of the DMZ, at the foot of Mount Seorak. After
leaving high school he began to work as a manual
laborer in Jeju Island, breaking stones for the
construction of a highway. In 1974 his father died and
he had to take responsibility for his family so he
returned to Sokcho and became a clerk in the office of
a small rural district nearby. After eight years,
already recognized as a poet, he went up to Seoul and
in 1985 began to work as Editor-in-Chief responsible
for poetry in the Changbi publishing company. He held
this position for some twenty years before retiring in
2005. He now lives in Yangpyeong, to the east of
Seoul.
He published his first poems in the review Hyeondae
munhak (Contemporary Literature) in 1979. He has
published multiple volumes of poetry. He has received a number of awards,
including the 55th Modern Literary Award; the Baekseok
Award; the Jihun Literary Award; the Republic of Korea
Culture and Arts Award; the Hyeongpyeong Literary
Award. He was the chief editor of the magazine
Sipyeong from 2000 until 2013; from 2000 he played a
leading role in organizing and participating in the
activities of the “Korea-ASEAN Poets’ Literature
Festival.” He is currently chief editor of the review
Hyeondae Sihak (Modern Poetry).
Grasshoppers'
Eyes: Poems by Ko Hyeong-Ryeol. Translated
by Brother Anthony of Taizé and Lee Hyung-Jin. Parlor
Press 2017. ISBN: 978-1602359420
Born
in Sangju, in the North Gyeongsang Province of Korea, in
1952, Lee Seong-bok studied in the Department of French
Language and Literature at Seoul National University,
completing his studies there with a Ph.D. He was for
many years professor of French at Keimyung University in
the city of Daegu. He then was appointed professor of
Creative Writing. at the same university. He retired in
2012 and is now an Emeritus Professor there.
He made his literary debut in 1977 with the publication
of the poem “At a Familiar Brothel.” His first
collection of poems, When Does a Rolling Stone Awaken?
(뒹구는 돌은 언제 잠 깨는가 duingguneun doreun eonje jam
kkaeneunga) was published in 1980. Other volumes include
South Sea Silk Mountain (남해금산 namhaegeumsan, 1986), The
End of Summer (그 여름의 끝 geu eoreumui kkeut, 1990),
Memories of a Holly Tree (호랑가시나무의 기억 horanggasinamuui
gieok, 1993), Traces of Waves on the Moon’s Brow (달의
이마에는 물결무늬 자국 darui imaeneun mulgyeolmunui, 2003 / 2012),
etc. In 2003, he published Ah, Mouthless Things (아, 입이
없는 것들 a, ibi eopneun geotdeul), from which the poems
translated in this collection are taken. In 2013 he
published Raeyeoaebandara (Come and Share Sorrow 래여애반다라
raeyeoaebandara,). He has also published a number of
volumes of poetic theory and other prose writings, the
most recent being the three volumes published in 2015:
Poetry of the Polar Regions (극지의 시 geukjiui si), Words
at Odds (불화하는 말들 bulhwahaneun maldeul) and Endless
Blooming (무한화서 muhanhwasa). He received the 1982 Kim
Su-young Literary Award, the 1990 So-wol Poetry Award,
the 2004 Daesan Literary Award, the 2007 Hyundai
Literary Award, and the 2014 Yi Yuk-sa Poetry
Award.
Since his first poem was published in 1977, Lee
Seong-bok has impressed readers with his opulent images
of free association, unexpected transformations charged
with aroused feeling and calling. The poetic world he
presents, sometimes flamboyantly and sometimes serenely,
is composed by events or scenes revealing the secrets of
lives.
Ah, Mouthless
Things: Poems by Lee Seong-Bok.
Translated by Eun-Gwi Chung, Myung Mi Kim, and Brother
Anthony of Taizé. Green
Integer 2017. ISBN: 978-1-55713-440-0
Ahn Do-Hyun was born in 1961 in Yeocheon,
Korea, and graduated from Wonkwang University where he
studied Korean literature. His writing career took off
when he won the Daegu Maeil Shinmun Annual Literary
Contest with his poem 'Nakdong River' in 1981 and the
Dong-A Ilbo Annual Literary Contest with his poem
'Jeon Bong-jun Goes to Seoul' in 1984. Ahn also
received the 1996 Young Poet's Award and the 1998 Kim
So-wol Literature Prize.
(20) Poems by
Ahn Do-Hyun. Translated by Brother Anthony
of Taizé.
ASIA Publishing K-Poets Series No. 2. 2017.
ISBN:979-1156623205
Kim
Jong-Gil 김종길
(1926- 2017)
Kim
Jong-Gil was born in 1926 near Andong. He was first
recognized as a poet in 1947. He studied at Korea
University, Seoul, and became a professor in the English
Department there in 1958. In 1960 he went to England for
a year. In 1969 he published his first collection of
poetry, having already published a volume of
translations of modern British poetry in 1954. He
retired from Korea University in 1992. In 1993 he was
elected a member of the Korean Academy of Arts. Other
collections of his own work were published in 1986,
1997, 2013. A revered figure, he translated much modern
English-language poetry into Korean as well as a a good
number of Korean poems into English. In 2013 he
published a volume of selected poems 솔개 "A Black Kite." He
died on April 1 2017, a couple of weeks after the
death of his wife.
A Black Kite.
Poems by Kim Jong-Gil. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé
with Kim Jong-Gil
(20) Poems by
Ahn Sang-Hak. Translated by Brother Anthony
of Taizé.
ASIA Publishing K-Poets Series 20183.
ISBN:979-11-5662317-5
Kim Sa-in
(1955) 김사인
Kim Sa-in was born in Boeun, North
Chungcheon Province, in 1955. He has published three
collections of poetry, Night Letters (bame
sseuneun pyeonji, 1987), Liking in Silence (gamanhi
joahaneun, 2006), and Beside a Baby Donkey
(eorin dangnagui gyeoteseo, 2015), collections of
criticism, including A Deep Reading of the
Novels of Park Sang-Ryung (2001), and essays, A
Warm Bowl of Rice (2006). Following time
in prison in the early 1980s he began writing poetry
and co-founded the magazine "Poetry and Economy." In
late 2010 he participatied in the University of Iowa's
International Writing Program. Among his awards are
the Sin Dong-Yeop Grant for Writing (1987), the Modern
Literature Prize for poetry (2005), and the Daesan
Literature Award for poetry (2006). Since early
2018 he is the Director of the Literature Translation
Institute of Korea.
Liking
in Silence Poems by Kim
Sa-In Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé
and Susan Hwang Buffalo: White Pine
Press.2019.
Yoo Anjin is a senior Korean writer,
highly esteemed as a poet, essayist and novelist. She
was born in 1941 on the outskirts of Andong, North
Gyeongsang Province. In 1970 her first collection of
poetry was published, the first of 19 collections she
has published so far. In 1978 she became a professor
at Dankook University in Seoul. In 1978 she also
published her first collection of essays. In 1981, she
became a professor of Children’s Studies in the
Domestic Science College of Seoul National University.
While she continued to publish poetry and essay
collections, her first novel, “Anemones Do not
Wither,” was serialized in a literary journal,
published, and then adapted as a popular television
series. In 2012 she became a member of the National
Academy of Arts. She has received many prestigious
literary awards.
As I Walk
Alone Poems by Yoo
Anjin. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé and Yu
Chang-Gon. MerwinAsia. 2020.
Park Nohae was born in 1957 in Hampyeong, South
Jeolla Province. His original name was Park Gi-pyeong.
While working as a laborer in various factories in his
20s, he began to reflect and write poems on the
sufferings of the laboring class. He then took the
pseudonym Park Nohae (No = ‘labor,’ Hae = ‘liberation’)
and published his first collection of poems, 노동의 새벽
(Nodongui Saebyeok) Dawn of Labor, in 1984, under that
name. For seven years he was active underground, helping
establish the 'South Korean Socialist Workers’ Alliance'
in 1989. Finally arrested in 1991, he was sentenced to
life imprisonment. While he was in prison, a second
poetry collection was published, 참된 시작 (Chamduin sijak)
True Beginning (1993), followed by a third, 사람만이 희망이다
(Sarmamani huimangida) Only a Person Is Hope (1997). He
was finally freed after being amnestied in 1998 by
President Kim Dae-Jung. Withdrawing from his previous
role, he helped establish a social organization Nanum
Munhwa “Culture of Sharing” with Koreans concerned with
the great challenges confronting global humanity. In
2003, at the United States’ invasion of Iraq, he went
with other peace activists to protect helpless civilians
and promote peace. In 2006 he was in Lebanon on a
similar peace-making mission and publicly opposed the
dispatch of Korean combat troops to the Middle East.
From the start he combined poetry-writing and
photography, as he went to many countries that were
suffering from wars and poverty, such as Palestine,
Kurdistan, Pakistan, Aceh (Indonesia), Burma, India,
Ethiopia, Sudan, Peru and Bolivia. In 2010 he held his
first exhibition of photos, “Ra Wilderness,” and since
then he has continued to hold exhibitions to draw public
attention to global issues of poverty, human values, and
warfare.
걷는
독서 Reading While Walking Along a
bilingual collection of over 400 aphorisms with
photos. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé. 느린걸음
2021
ISBN: 978-8991418318
Dawn of
Labor. Poems by Park Nohae. Translated by
Brother Anthony of Taizé and Cheehyung Harrison Kim.
University of Hawaii Press.
The
Letters of Saint Andrew Kim Dae-geon Translated by Brothers Anthony and
Han-Yol of the Community of Taizé. The Research Foundation
of Korean Church History. 2021.
Lee Geum-yi (Korean: 이금이) is
a Korean author. Since her debut in 1984, she has written
more than fifty works. In the early days of her career,
she mainly wrote children's stories set in rural areas.
Lee Geum-yi made her official debut as an author in 1984.
In 2018, she was selected for the IBBY Honour List for
Can’t I Go Instead?
The
Picture Bride by Lee Geum-yi
Translated by An Seon Jae 2022
ISBN 978-1250808660
North American edition: Forge
Books
Australian and UK edition: Scribe
Can't I Go Instead by Lee
Geum-yi Translated by An Seon Jae 2023
ISBN 978-1250808660
Born in Geochang, South
Gyeongsang Province, Korea, in 1974, Sin Yong-Mok
received a new writers award in 2000 and has published
six collections of poetry, a volume of prose essays, and
a novel. He received several awards for his work prior
to the collection When Someone Called Someone I Looked
Back (2017), which received the 2017 Baek Seok Award for
Poetry. He is currently a professor in the Creative
Writing Department of Chosun University, Gwangju, South
Jeolla Province.
Concelaed
Words, poems by Sin Yong-mok translated by
Brother Anthony of Taizé. Black Ocean 2022 (Moon Country
Korean Poetry Series)
ISBN: 978-1939568335
The Letters of
the Venerable Father Thomas Choe Yang-eop. Translated
by Brothers Anthony and Han-Yol of the Community of
Taizé. The Research Foundation of Korean Church History.
2022.
ISBN:979-1185700342(03230)
Kim Ilyeon 김일연 (1955)
After graduating
from the College of Education at Kyungpook National
University, she worked as a middle school teacher and
later as a reporter for Maeil Shinmun, a daily newspaper
based in Daegu. Having published poems from the age of 15,
Kim became a sijo (a form of Korean traditional poetry)
poet after being introduced in the journal, Sijo munhak
(Sijo Literature), in 1980.
All
The Daughters of The Earth, Sijo poems by
Kim Ilyeon, translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé.
Seoul Selection. 2023.
ISBN: 9781624121524
Im Seong-sun 임성순
Im Seong-sun is
a writer, the author of ten books. His first novel, The
Consultant, was awarded the 2010 Segye Ilbo Literary
Award, and his short story 'The Sheeple Wandering a
Gallery and Their Predators' won Korea's Young Artist
Award. Seong-sun's sci-fi novel Ouroboros earned him the
Korean SF Award.
The
Consultant by Lee Seong-sun, translated by An
Seon Jae. Raven Books (Bloomsbury). 2023.
ISBN: 978-1526654144
Song Kyeong-dong 송경동
I'll Write
Again Tomorrowa collection of new poems by
Song Kyeong-dong. Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé. Asia
2023
ISBN 9791156626558
Kim Byung-ho 김병호
Love
Songs Sung with the Body a collection of new poems by Kim Byung-ho.
Translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé.
Asia 2023
ISBN 9791156626572
Translations completed or in process that have still to be
published The
Dolphin who Went South
by Ahn Do-hyun (novel)
I am Not
Korean poems by Song Kyung-dong
Maninbo 1-10: Home Village
by Ko Un
Dawn of Labor by Park
Nohae
Novels
5. 공지영 높고 푸른 사다리
Gong Ji-young High, Blue Ladder (complete)
6. 공지영 먼 바다 Gong Ji-young The Open Sea
(complete) 7. 임성순 극해 Im Seong-sun Antarctic Mutiny (complete)
8. 권정현 칼과 혀 Kwon Jeong-hyeon Blade and Tongue
(complete) 9. 정유정 진이, 진니 Jeong You-Jeong Jini, Jinny
(complete)
10. 염승숙 어떤 나라는 너무 크다 Yum Seung-Sook Bingo Game (complete) 11. 정유정 28
Jeong You-Jeong 28 (complete) 12. 박영 일음 없는 사람들
Park Young Nameless People (complete) 13. 이정명 선한 이웃
JM Lee Good Neighbors (complete)
14. 김중혁 당신의 그림자는 월요일
Kim Jung-hyuk Your Shadow is a Monday (complete)
15. 임성순 오히려 다정한 사람들이 살고 있다 Im Seong-sun Rather Kind People
(complete)
(later?) 임성순 자기 개발의 정석 Im Seong-sun
Paragon of Self Improvement (later)
For a large Anthology
of 20th-century Korean literature in preparation by KLTI,
I have translated :
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
Winter that
Yearby 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.
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)
23. Poems by 20 Korean poets translated by Eun-Gwi Chung and
Brother Anthony of Taizé in Cordite
Volume 35 ozko-hanguk-hoju (Cordite is an Australian
poetry review)
24. Kim Mi-wol: Guide to Seoul Cave Koreana:
Korean Art & Culture (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 25,
No.3 Autumn 2011 pages 92 - 99 (Includes Introduction)
25.
Five Poems by Kim Sa-in: Cosmos Flower,
Someone Who Makes a Bridge Feel Lonely, Springtime Sea, A
Flower, Rice Cake, Azalea
(Harvard) Vol 4 2011. pages 77 -
32. Kim Sa-in: Four poems (End of Mourning, Rainy
Season, Springtime Sea, A Flower) published in The
Iowa Review Volume 43 Number 3, Winter 2013/4
pages 41 - 44
33. Cho
Hae-jin: Light’s Escort Koreana: Korean Culture & Arts (The Korea Foundation)
Vol. 29 No. 1, Spring 2015, pages 86-99.
34. 5 poems by Sin Yongmok were published in Azalea:
Journal of Korean Literature and Culture (Korea Center, Harvard
University, Volume 5 (2012) ages 143-9
35. 5 poems each by Kim So-yeon, Park Sangsoon, Gang Jeon, Kim
Haeng-suk & Yi Yeong-gwang were published in Azalea:
Journal of Korean Literature and Culture (Korea Center, Harvard
University, Volume 8 (2015)
36.
Kim Sum:Noodles Koreana: Korean Culture &
Arts (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 29, No. 3 Autumn, 2015.
Pages 92 - 103.
37. Poems published in volumes of Asia: The
Quarterly Journal of Asian Literature
Volume 36: Two poems by Moon Chung-Hee
Volume 37: Two poems by Bok Hyo-geun; Two poems by Bang Min-ho
Volume 38: Two poems by Lee Kyeong-lim; Two poems by Hwang
In-chan.
Volume 40: Two poems by Kim Yong-taek; Two poems by Kim
Sung-gyu.
Volume 49: 5 Poems by Kim Yong-Taek
Volume 50: 5 Poems by Kim
Seung-Hee
Volume 53: 5 poems by Lee
Jang-Wook
39. Kim Mi-wol: Plaza Hotel Koreana: Korean Culture & Arts (The Korea
Foundation) Vol. 30, No. 3 Autumn, 2016. Pages 90 - 103
40. Gu Hyo-seo: In the Mood
for Love. Koreana: Korean Culture
& Arts (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 31, No. 1
Spring, 2017. Pages 90 - 102.
41. Poems published in Modern
Poetry in Translation No.3 2016 "The Blue
Vein" with a special "Focus on Korean Poetry"
3 poems by Ko Hyeong-Ryeol: "I Commemorate Devastation," "A
Speeding Word" and "Run, Tiger!"
4 "Untitled Poems" by Ko Un: 7, 73, 141 and 151.
50.
Kim Se-hee: VertigoPublished
in Koreana: Korean Culture & Arts (The Korea
Foundation) Vol. 34, No. 4 Winter 2020, pages 92-103.
51. Kim Soom: Birth of a
Rat. Published in Koreana: Korean Culture &
Arts (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 35, No. 2 Summer 2021,
pages 94-103.
52. Choi
Jin-young: The Chair. (PDF) Published
in Koreana: Korean Culture & Arts (The Korea
Foundation) Vol. 35, No. 4 Winter 2021, pages 94-103.
53. Kim Mi-weol: Ex-Lover’s Gift Bazaar
Published in Koreana: Korean Culture & Arts (The
Korea Foundation) Vol. 36, No. 2 Summer 2022, pages 92-102
54. Hyejin
Kim: Mi-Ae (PDF) Published in Koreana:Korean
Culture & Arts (The Korea Foundation) Vol. 36
No. 4, Winter 2022 Pages 92-102.
55. Gu
Byeong-mo: Autopoiesis (PDF)
Published in Koreana:Korean Culture & Arts (The
Korea Foundation) Vol. 37 No. 2, Summer 2023 Pages
92-103.
56. Moon Ji Hyuck: When
We Cross the Bridge. (PDF) Published in
Koreana:Korean Culture & Arts (The Korea
Foundation) Vol. 37 No. 4, Winter 2023. Page 94-102.
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) and novelists were published inKorean Literature Today
(Korean PEN/KCAF).
Some poems by individual poets, many published in KLT. (See
a fuller list of my translated Korean poetry here)
The translations
linked to this page are all Copyright 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
36. A review of John Holstein's A Moment’s Grace:
Stories from Korea in Translation. Cornell East Asia
Series 148. Ithaca, NY: East Asia Program, Cornell University.
2009. First published in the Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, Vol.
11, No. 1, (2011) pages 95 – 101.
48. Brother
Anthony Translates: the PDF file of a Powerpoint
used for a lecture to RAS Korea on December 8, 2020. Or view the video
It covers in 1 hour most of my translating activity over 30
years.
51. The Foreignness of Language and
Literary Translation. A retrospective essay on
reaching the age of 80. Published in The Journal of
English Language & Literature. (ELLAK). Vol.68 No.
1 March 2022. Pages 193-208.
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.
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.
