By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Andrew McCullough, the Commendation Award winner of the 40th Modern Korean Literature Awards for fiction, was born and raised in Rhode Island, the United States, and was not at all accustomed to Korea and Korean literature until he visited the country when he was a high school student.
``I was invited by Yonsei University in 2002 to give a speech at a conference on alternative education. I later returned as an exchange student with schools in the Seoul Alternative Learning Community Network,'' McCullough, who translated famed novelist Park Wan-suh's ``Ode for Longing,'' told The Korea Times during a phone interview.
From there he learned Korean and the culture, and over the past seven years, he has visited Korea six times for work, college, studies and research. Learning about an entirely different country can be exciting and also overwhelming, but McCullough agreed that the Korean language worked as a plus in learning the literature.
``In school I looked at East Asian Studies mainly through the lens of anthropology. I think my first interest in Korean literature specifically came when I was reading the self-narratives of school-refusers in Korean alternative schools for my thesis research. I think the Korean language is so wonderfully equipped for storytelling and Koreans are so adept at building life narratives,'' he said.
Fluent in Korean, McCullough said he didn't expect to win.
``The Korea Times contest is one of the highest stages for amateur translators of Korean literature, so as a relatively inexperienced applicant, I didn't have very high expectations for myself,'' he said.
When it comes to books, however, he has vast experience, thanks to his parents.
``My family has always had a very strong book culture. My parents pushed me and my siblings to read and it's been a huge part of my life for a long time. So reading is nothing new to me, but when I started translating I had to take that big leap from reading to writing, and that was a big challenge,'' McCullough said.
The 22-year-old is currently looking for work in the literature scene now, but he is currently translating another work for two young-adult novel projects with two Korean co-translators, and is also planning to continue his academic pursuits in Korean studies in the future. When asked what he thought made a good translator, McCullough said someone who was judicious and passionate with high self-expectations.
``In many cases, translators may be their own harshest critic, and often they are their only qualified critic, so that kind of critical stance toward one's own writing, I think, is important,'' he said.
McCullough said that while more translators would help boost Korean literature, a firm and lively market is also needed.
``I think absolutely, more translations would be better. On the other hand, there are a number of very good translators of Korean literature working today, and producing excellent work, but much of the problem lies with the publishing market. It makes me sad to think about all the great manuscripts that couldn't or haven't yet been widely published. Obviously, producing more and more translations only goes so far in connecting those literary works with readers,'' McCullough said.