Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Award-winning author Han Kang announces new novel 'Farewell'

By Chyung Eun-juKorean author Han Kang with her book “The Vegetarian” at a photo call in London on May 15, 2016. / AP-YonhapAward-wining South Korean novelist Han Kang, 47, has released a short novel, “Farewell,” her first work since winning the famed Man Booker Prize in May 2016 with the cult novel “The Vegetarian.”“Farewell” was included in Literature and Society’s quarterly publication that hit domestic bookstores on Nov. 24. “This is the first time the author Han Kang has announced a novel after winning the Man Booker Prize in May 2016,” Moonji Publishing Company said on Thursday.“Farewell” is about a woman who turns into a snowman while dozing off on a bench in front of her house. She looks back on her arduous life before her whole body melts. The woman is a single mom who gave birth when she was 24. She prepared a detailed short and long-term life plan and saved money in her son’s college fund from several small jobs. But she did not have a retirement plan. She cut it fine but those moments were

Nov 30, 2017

Award-winning author Han Kang announces new novel 'Farewell'

Choi Yearn-hong, Yonseian of the Year 2017

Choi Yearn-hong, Yonseian of the Year 2017Hong Hee-kyung, president of the Yonsei University Alumni Association of the Americas, announced Dr. Choi Yearn-hong as the Yonseian of the Year 2017, for his pilgrimage to commemorate the centennial of poet and fellow Yonsei alumni, Yoon Dong-ju’s birth, earlier this year. Choi has long celebrated Yoon’s life and literature through the establishment and foundation of the Yoon Dong-ju Group in the Washington Area, the only such organization outside Korea over the past twenty years, and most recently highlighted Yoon at the Korean Poets and Writers Group overseas literary symposium at Yanji, September 1, 2017. He has translated and published Yoon’s major poems, including “Star-counting Night,”“Self-Portrait,”“Easily Written Poem” and “Prelude,” into English. His journey to remember the poet began at Yoon’s birthplace in Myungdong-chon, and moved on to his elementary and middle schools in Yongjung, Manchuria, his colleges in Japan _ Rikkyo and Toshisha universities, and fin

Nov 26, 2017

Improve office layout to enhance productivity, happiness

By Yun Suh-young Cover of the book "Work Environment Creates Culture -- Vol. 1 The Beginning of Workplace Design" / Courtesy of Fursys Books Pixar is famous for its innovative policies, one of them being giving their employees money to buy their own office furniture as they wish. If every company was like Pixar, we'd already be living in a revolutionary society. It's not easy to emulate the forward-thinking animation company, but more and more companies are striving to make improvements in their office environments to cater to their employees' needs and wants. Companies are realizing that ergonomic office layout designed according to different work patterns and styles is key to the comfort, efficiency and productivity of their employees but also key to their happiness, as satisfied employees are more likely to produce better ideas and outcomes. The happier the people, the happier the company and hence the creation of a virtuous cycle. But not every company knows how to do this, even if they're aware of the need. To help companies find their right office style, layout and furnitu

Nov 24, 2017

New generation leads 48th Translation Awards

Winners of the 48th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards pose for a photo at the award ceremony at Lotte Hotel Seoul, Friday. From left are judge Brother Anthony, judge Min Eun-kyung, KB Financial Group Senior Managing Director Shin Hong-seob, The Korea Times president-publisher Lee Chang-sup, fiction grand prize winner Sarah Lyo, fiction commendation award winners Olan Munson and Oh Eun-kyung and judge Jung Ha-yun. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Kwon Mee-yooReflecting the heightened global interest in Korean literature, a record number of quality entries were submitted to the 48th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards this year. Fiction Grand Prize winner Sarah Lyo for her translation of Park Sol-moe's "Then What Do We Sing,” Poetry Grand Prize winner Charse Yun for his translation of Ham Min-bok’s poems and Fiction Commendation Award winning team of Olan Munson and Oh Eun-kyung for their translation of Choi Eun-young's "Xin chao Xin chao" were recognized at an awards ceremony at Lotte Hotel Seoul, Friday. Hosted by The Korea Times and sponsored by

Nov 17, 2017

New generation leads 48th Translation Awards

Translation Awards Judges' Report

By Brother Anthony, Jung Ha-yun, Min Eun-kyung Brother Anthony, professor emeritus at Sogang UniversityJung Ha-yun, professor at Ewha Womans UniversityMin Eun-kyung, professor at Seoul National UniversityFirst of all, we were very pleasantly surprised by the large number of entries we received this year. The dwindling number of poetry translations in recent years had recently made us fear that fewer people were reading Korean poetry and attempting the difficult task of rendering it into English. This year, however, the number of poetry translations was almost equal to that of fiction translations. We had a bumper crop and this rich harvest is welcome news indeed.Some years, we find it regrettably easy to weed out the weak translations. The quality of the English language is the usual giveaway: entries showing grammatical mistakes, weak sentence structure, and flat tone make it unfortunately easy for us to set them aside.This year, though, the standard of English was generally very high. Most of the entries were very readable, evidently prepared by native or near-native writers o

Nov 16, 2017

Translation Awards Commendation Award in Fiction - Xin chao, Xin chao

Written by Choi Eun-youngFollowing is an excerpt from the translation by Olan Munson and Oh Eun-kyung We moved back to Germany in January of 1995. Only a year had passed since our return to Korea after having lived in Berlin from ‘92 to ‘93. We flew into a place called Plauen, a small city which had been part of East Germany until five years earlier. The abandoned buildings, the bleak park, the men sitting at the tram stop, reeking of alcohol _ it was far from the Germany I had once known.The day Mr. Ho first invited us to dinner, Mom pulled out and ironed a beautiful two-piece dress that she didn’t usually wear and prettied herself with makeup. She undid my hair, which was pulled back into a high ponytail, and fastened it into a tight French braid before taking out the black corduroy dress I wore to weddings. She dressed my two-year-old sister in new clothes, too. It had been a long time since I had seen my mom wearing makeup, and my young self thought she looked gorgeous. Mom checked her reflection several times in the building windows we passed by. It w

Nov 16, 2017

[Translation Awards] Commendation Award in Fiction - Xin chao, Xin chao

Translation Awards Judges' Report

Translation Awards Grand Prize Winner in Fiction - Then What Do We Sing

Written by Park Sol-moeFollowing is an excerpt from the translation by Sarah LyoI met Hanna in San Francisco. In Berkeley, to be exact: I once went to a meeting that took place once a month near the University of California, Berkeley; it was there that I met Hanna. The meeting was for those interested in Korea who wished to learn Korean, and therefore attended mostly by Korean-Americans who were unfamiliar with the language. Because of the mix of Korean and English, there were also a few students from Korea who had recently come abroad to study. I was traveling at the time: someone had approached me at a café where I was reading a book in Korean and offered, Would you be interested in coming to this meeting? I’m no longer certain who that person was. I remember the book I’d been reading: a novel by a best-selling French author, which I’d borrowed from a friend. Next to the book was a cup of cappuccino, the bottom of which was visible.It was 8 p.m. at a café with wide tables near the university. I remember that the night air was light and dry. The meeti

Nov 16, 2017

[Translation Awards] Grand Prize Winner in Fiction - Then What Do We Sing

Translation Awards Judges' Report

Translation Awards Grand Prize Winner in Poetry - Solace

Poems written by Ham Min-bokFollowing is an excerpt from the translation by Charse Yun Persimmon TreeYou look so old.On your way to heaven, so why so many thoughts?Not one branch able to stretch out straight, free from care.Stuttering, twisting,your entire body blisters from your fierce contemplation of the sun.From the outset, the fruit firm.A puckery taste.Determined not to conveyany unripened thought.You spitefully drop the flower, the unripe persimmon,refuse to utter absurd talk to the passing wind.No, this branch won’t do, so you snap it off.You govern the branches firmly.Not even light-souled birds can nest here;they sit and preen their feathers, learn to shake offany lingering attachment.Look:The red fruit in your autumn hair--How can such lovely fruit dangle from your gnarled body?And then it’s over.When the winter wind blows, you return to your nakedness.As if dead, you refuse to speak, and cloister yourselflike a monk entering his long winter retreat.Pumpkin When I placed a pumpkin by my pillow and gazed at itmy heart glowed despite the chill of the ro

Nov 16, 2017

[Translation Awards] Grand Prize Winner in Poetry - Solace

Translation Awards Judges' Report

Sharjah book fair leader touts literary adventure to end hatred

Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, chairman of the United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah Book Authority and director of the Sharja International Book Fair, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times on Nov. 10 at the Expo Center Sharja in the United Arab Emirates. / Korea TimesBy Kang Hyun-kyungSHARJAH -- Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, chairman of the United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah Book Authority, is an insatiable reader and a firm believer in literature as a way to end hatred. He said literature helps readers build understanding in ways of thinking about people from different cultures and thus is a powerful tool to foster cultural tolerance. As a reader, Al Ameri said his areas of interest know no bounds. He said he reads books of history, business, fiction and non-fiction, and his curiosity even covers books on religions other than his own, Islam.Like other readers, Al Ameri, also director of the Sharjah International Book Fair, said he has a book that has a tremendous impact on his life. It’s the Quran, the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language, he said. “Quran

Nov 16, 2017

Sharjah book fair leader touts literary adventure to end hatred

'Seoul Punx' captures counterculture of yesteryear

Korean punks gather for a group photo in Hondae Playground in this undated photo. Jung You-jin, the author of the photo book "Seoul Punx," is third from the right. / Courtesy of Jung You-jinBy Jon DunbarShortly after the hashtag “#seoulpunx” appeared on social media, news broke this was a preview for an upcoming photo book. The book by cartoonist Jung You-jin came out on Oct. 27 with a release party at Club Steel Face that reunited many familiar punks from the past 13 years.In going over this book, of which only 500 copies have been printed, I reflect on the cultural value of this book, as well as what makes a photo and a photographer “good” and also my own memories of the time.I was here at the same time as You-jin, also taking pictures, often of the same events, bands and people. But You-jin mostly kept hers to herself and her close friends, until now, giving a private, intimate look of this counterculture, which came to Korea barely over two decades ago.“Seoul Punx” is like a yearbook to those of us who were there, but a challenging read to outs

Nov 10, 2017

Books

Books

Award-winning author Han Kang announces new novel 'Farewell'

Choi Yearn-hong, Yonseian of the Year 2017

Improve office layout to enhance productivity, happiness

New generation leads 48th Translation Awards

Translation Awards Judges' Report

Translation Awards Commendation Award in Fiction - Xin chao, Xin chao

Translation Awards Grand Prize Winner in Fiction - Then What Do We Sing

Translation Awards Grand Prize Winner in Poetry - Solace

Sharjah book fair leader touts literary adventure to end hatred

'Seoul Punx' captures counterculture of yesteryear

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