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

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 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 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, full text on-line)

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.)

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)

Faint Shadows of Love. London: Forest Books, 1991
(Out of print) Due to be republished in an expanded edition by White Pine Press

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

1)   The Sound of my WavesSelected Poems. A bilingual edition by DapGae (Seoul) and Cornell East Asia Series, 1996.
(Originally published in English by Cornell East Asia Series, 1993) You may buy this through  Seoul Selection's home page.

2)   Beyond Self: 108 Korean Zen Poems. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1997 (online review) (Currently out of print)

(Both translations in collaboration with Young-Moo Kim)

Read my article : Ko Un's Hwaom-kyong: A Modern Korean Pilgrim's Progress

Read a Washington Post article on Ko Un by Robert Hass

Hear and watch Ko Un reading a poem.  View two recent photos: One    Two.

Read about Ko Un (1933 - ). See him (rather younger than now). Read extracts from The Sound of My Waves / Beyond Self / Maninbo

Read an article about translating Ko Un's poetry.  Read another, more developed article on the same topic.

Translated poems by Ko Un have been published in the following reviews:

Vital Speeches of the Day; Aug 15, 2000; Vol. 66, Iss. 21; pg. 670 (Poem: At The Taedong River )

Evergreen Review No. 104 (Poems: April 15;  A yard at night)

Two Lines 2001 (Poem from Beyond Self: A Drunkard). Two Lines 2002 (A selection from Flowers of a Moment)

Manoa 13:1 (2001) (Poems from 10,000 Lives: Headmaster Abe; Yi Yong-Ak; Oh Song-Ryun; Spirit Shrine; Tears of Blood; Man-Sun)

americas review number 12. political prose and poetry (2002) (Poems from 10,000 Lives: Okya, the palace woman; Pun-im from Mijei; Ch'ae-sun; Hey, you there!)

The London Magazine June - July 2003 (Introductory article: Poet of Korea's Pains and Hopes, with the poems A Smile; A Drunkard; Sitting; A Temple's Main Hall; the Women from Sonjae; Sunlight)

New American Writing 22 (2004) 162-5 (Short preface by Gary Gach, poems A Mother-in-Law from Seoul, The Upper Reaches of Somjin River, Chestnuts, Afternoon.)

  The Early Lyrics, 1941-1960. A bilingual edition published by DapGae (Seoul) and Cornell East Asia Series, 1998   (Originally (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

  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.

Or read an unpublished translation of a novella "Winter that Year" by the same author

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.

  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 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

  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

  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.

  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.

It is a very good introduction to modern Korean poetry.

  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.

 Ten Thousand Lives (Maninbo) Poems by Ko Un. Green Integer 2005.

 Songs for Tomorrow: Poems 1960-2002 by Ko Un.  Publisher not yet decided.

 Lttle Pilgrim: A Novel by Ko Un. Parallax Press, 2005.

 Wed to a Bird with no Wings: Life with Ch'on Sang-Pyong. By Mok Sun-Ok. Publisher not yet decided.

 Flowers of a Moment. Brief Poems by Ko Un. BOA Editions. 2007..

The Depth of a Clam: Selected poems by Kim Kwang-Kyu.White Pine. 2005.

Son of Man, a novel by Yi Mun-yol. Publisher not yet decided.

Selected poems by Mah Chonggi. Publisher not yet decided.

For the Emperor, a novel by Yi Mun-yol. Publisher not yet decided.

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 (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

An Do-hyon

Chong Sei-Hun

Chon Pong-gon

Chon Yang-hui

Hong Yun-suk

Hwang Dong-kyu

Hwang Ji-U

Kim Chang-ho

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 Yong-Taek (including his lament for Kwangju 1980)

Lee Hyong-ki

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.

(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.
 

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

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.

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.