Korea Times translation award recognizes budding talents

The participants of the 51st Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards pose after the awards ceremony at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Thursday. From left in second row are Sung Chai-hyun, senior executive vice president of Retail Customer Group at KB Kookmin Bank: novelists Kim You-myung and Ko Kwang-yule; judges Min Eun-kyung, professor at Seoul National University, and Jung Ha-yun, Ewha Womans University; Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin; judge Brother Anthony; former Korea Times editorial writer Hong Soon-il; Chun Byong-keuk, deputy minister for culture and art policy; Mexican Ambassador to Korea Bruno Figueroa and his daughter Aura Figueroa. From left in first row are Choi Ja-in, receiving the prize for Poetry Commendation Award winner Hedgie Choi; Fiction Grand Prize Winner Hannah Quinn Hertzog; Poetry Grand Prize winner Mattho Mandersloot and poet Kim Yi-deum. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Kwon Mee-yoo

The 51st Korea Times Modern Korean Literature Translation Award commemorated the winners' affection and passion for literature translation at an awards ceremony at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Thursday evening.

This year's ceremony was hosted in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and KB Financial Group.

The Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin emphasized the award's history in promoting Korean literature and strengthening the country's translation infrastructure for over half a century, and unveiled a plan to expand the event.

"The idea is in its early stages, but we are hoping to draw more attention to Korean literature through a global event, discussing Korean literature and enhancing networks between writers and translators," Oh said.

Deputy Minister for Culture and Art Policy Chun Byong-keuk delivered Culture Minister Park Yang-woo's congratulatory message.

"We appreciate The Korea Times' efforts to help Korean literature reach a wider audience for over 50 years. Authors write through fierce internal struggle and translators convey the result lively in another language," he said. "In addition to the private sector's endeavor such as The Korea Times' Translation Award, the government is putting efforts in to the globalization of Korean literature by training translators and encouraging international exchanges."

Judge Brother Anthony holds The Korea Times during the award ceremony of the 51st Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Dutch translator Mattho Mandersloot won this year's Grand Prize in poetry, awarded by the culture ministry, for his translation of Choi Jeong-rye's poems. Hanna Quinn Hertzog from the U.S. was named the Grand Prize winner in fiction for her translation of Kim Un-su's "Jab.

Mandersloot, who first came to Korea as a taekwondo athlete, changed his life path after deciding that for him, Koreans were more suited for the sport physically.

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"That prompted me to think about what I am born with and good at. I picked up the Korean language pretty easily and it influenced the rest of my life. I decided relatively early on (to be a translator) and am happy to be a translator from my 20s," Mandersloot said. "I once wanted to be a taekwondo world champion and I want to be a world champion in translation now. (Winning this) feels very rewarding to me."

Hertzog remarked in her acceptance speech on how strange it was for her to stand in front of so many people, as the translator's role is to be invisible.

She thanked the original author Kim Un-su, who could not attend the ceremony, as well as her parents and friends in the U.S. "His stories are fun, if I have to choose one word to describe them. The fun was what I needed to translate, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic," she said.

Poetry Commendation Award winner Hedgie Choi, who translated Moon Bo-young's poems, and Fiction Commendation Award winner Rina Kim, who translated Kwon Yeo-sun's "The Aunt," could not attend the ceremony.

Poet Kim Yi-deum recites her poem "Country Whore" during the award ceremony of the 51st Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Poet Kim Yi-deum, who won the 2020 National Translation Award and the 2020 Lucien Stryk Asian Translation for her poem collection "Hysteria," joined the ceremony to congratulate the translators and recited her poem "Country Whore."

"I think English translation is the way to globalize Korean literature. I think translators are artists as well as writers," the poet said. "I published Hysteria in 2014 and suffered an insult while reciting the poem during a literary conference for being indecent. However, when it was translated into English, it became a best seller. I am grateful for the three translators who translated poems that haven't received the limelight in Korea."

Poetry Commendation Award winner Choi was one of the co-translators of the award-winning poem, along with Jake Levine and Seo So-eun.

The three judges were Brother Anthony, also known as An Son-jae, professor emeritus at Sogang University and president of the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS) Korea, Ewha Womans University professor Jung Ha-yun and Seoul National University professor Min Eun-kyung, who selected this year's winners after long discussions.

Min shared that the reviewing process this year had better and more submissions than ever.

"When we receive entries, each of us makes a shortlist and then discusses in person at a nice restaurant. Due to the pandemic, we had to meet via Zoom this year," the professor said.

"I was over 50 when I received The Korea Times Translation Award back in 1991. Now the winning translators here are much younger. I have translated over 50 books after winning this award and have great expectations for what these translators will work on for the next 30 years," Brother Anthony said.