INTERVIEW New generation of Korean literary translators brings more diverse voices to English market
Translators' behind-the-scenes roles deserve wider recognitionBy Park Han-solOn the evening of March 10, Anton Hur was alone in his apartment in Seoul, spending his fifth day in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.What interrupted his aimless stream of thoughts that day was an email from the British publishing house, Honford Star, saying, “Congratulations!”With that, Hur became longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize, one of the world's most significant awards celebrating literature translated into English, as the translator of Chung Bora's genre-defying short story collection, “Cursed Bunny.” Now, the rest of his days in quarantine could be spent musing about how his life might change.Then, another email came, this time from the publisher Tilted Axis Press. Park Sang-young's queer novel, “Love in the Big City,” which he had also translated, had been nominated for the International Booker prize as well!“That was when I was like, is this a joke? A prank? A COVID-19 fever dream?” the 41-year-old translator recall
Apr 7, 2022By Park Han-sol
