50th Korea Times Translation Awards Judges' Report

From top left clockwise, Brother Anthony, Min Eun-kyung, and Jung Ha-yun

By Brother Anthony, Jung Ha-yun and Min Eun-kyung

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Korea Times Translation Awards, a singular achievement in the annals of the translation of modern Korean literature. Back in 1969, the inaugural year of the award, South Korea was still recovering from war and had yet to grow into the economic and cultural powerhouse it is today. In the half-century that followed, the Korea Times Translation Awards have continued to bring to light and reward translators of stories and poems from Korea. By showcasing and promoting Korean literature in translation, the awards have fulfilled our cultural duty to share our experiences as part of humanity.

In the course of the five decades, the award has helped launch the careers of a remarkable roster of literary translators and we are happy to announce this year's winners who will be joining the list.

This year, entries in the poetry category outnumbered those in fiction, which has almost never been the case, for translating verse poses challenges so varied and immense that a “faithful” poetry translation is often deemed impossible. So it was with enthusiasm that we tackled this year's pile of poetry entries.

Unfortunately, we were unable to identify a work to be singled out as a Grand Prize winner this year. The biggest issue we had with the translations, aside from grammar and basic language proficiency matters in several cases, was that they seemed to be trimmed-down versions of the originals. Too much was lost in the course of translation: imagery, tone, lyricism, sometimes entire words or phrases ― without which it would be hard to call the translations anything more than a “version” of the original poem.

In the end, we agreed to recognize one entry, a translation of the poet Heo Yeon's works, with a Commendation Award. This work stood out by its consistent efforts to render in English the original poem's lyrical elements. Some attempts were successful while some were not quite effective, but this entry clearly showed that it was focused on translating poetry into poetry.

In the fiction/drama category, our final shortlist was narrowed down to three entries: “Choe Mijin, Where Have You Gone?” by Lee Kiho, “Burial” by Kim Sagwa, and “Still Days” by Kim Se-hee. All three stories are first-person narratives, driven less by external plot than by the voice of the narrator, which often proves difficult to capture in translation. “Burial” is the most unconventional in style among the three, but the translator rendered the hybridized narrative voice of this coming-of-age story in convincing English, despite some inaccuracies. “Still Days” is a more faithful translation but does not fully capture the vernacular texture of contemporary internet language.

After deliberating on the three entries, the three judges unanimously decided to award this year's Grand Prize to “Choe Mijin, Where Have You Gone?” by Lee Kiho, and to acknowledge the two other entries with Commendation Awards.

The 2017 story by Lee Kiho is a work of metafiction that turns a hilarious online encounter into an unexpected and introspective examination of authorial and personal identity. The translation successfully captures in fluid English the self-ironizing voice of the narrator, thereby re-creating the narrative and its blurred lines between fiction and reality. The judges were especially impressed by the creative translations of humorous word-play in the original.

Our congratulations go to the Grand Prize and Commendation Award winners. We encourage the winners to work more, perhaps with the authors, in revising and completing their manuscript and seeking publication. Literary translation is a labor of love and often this labor is extended beyond the pages to navigating the web of agents and editors. We also wish to acknowledge all the translators who submitted their work. We hope all will be willing to put in more time not only to hone their craft but to engage more deeply with Korean literature.

As we celebrate this year's 50th anniversary with a new group of deserving winners, we look forward to another 50 years honoring the talent and dedication of translators, who are indeed creators and writers in their own right as well as indispensable contributors to world literature.