Odyssey of Korean-American Poet

By Chung Ah-young

Staff Reporter

American poet Walt Whitman recounted the diversity and multiplicity of the ordinary people and searched for the development of the American identity from various perspectives in the 19th century in ``Song of Myself.’’

In a similar manner, Korean-American poet Choi Yearn-hong hopes to weave poetry, philosophy and political science, history and socio-cultural commentary mixed with his personal experiences in the United States in his memoir ``Song of Myself: A Korean-American Life.’’

His story is full of fragments of everyday life revolving around characters and celebrities he has met, and deals with the identity theme in the middle of struggle and transformation.