I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
South Korean poetry 'Hysteria' wins US translation award
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Poetry “Hysteria” written by Kim Yi-deum, translated by Jake Levine, Seo So-eun and Choi Hedgie
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The South Korean poetry work “Hysteria” has won the 2020 National Translation Award (NTA) presented by the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA).
Written by poet Kim Yi-deum, the volume was translated by Jake Levine, Seo So-eun and Choi Hedgie.
On its website announcing this year's winner Thursday, ALTA said Kim's “Hysteria” is an “intriguing and illuminating volume.”
“One of the co-translators of this good-humored and confrontations book notes in his afterword that the style of Korean poet Kim Yi-deum is intentionally excessive… and irrational,” it said. “Her speaker is a hipster who makes brash statements about quotidian experiences that may occur in any crowded city…. Yi-deum turns her glance on her specifically Korean milieu as well.”
Levine is an American translator, poet and scholar and works as an assistant professor of creative writing at Keimyung University.
Seo is a poet and translator, while Choi is a fellow at the Michener Center for Writers in Austin, Texas.
The NTA is the only national award for translated fiction, poetry and literary nonfiction.
This year's judges for poetry were Ilya Kaminsky, Lisa Katz and Farid Matuk.
The winners will be awarded $2,500 in prize money.