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59th Chang Han-na Finds Brahms Through Looking-Glass

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter Chang Han-na has made the transition from child prodigy extraordinaire to debutant conductor, but she will return later this month to tour Korea with what she is best known for ― an intimate session with the cello. ``Going to Korea always feels like returning home," the 26-year-old Suwon native told The Korea Times in a recent email. ``Because I moved to the U.S. when I was only 10 years old, every time I give a national tour and visit many parts of the country I discover many new things about my roots and heritage, which for me is really exciting and rewarding.'' Her first recital tour here in three years will feature Brahms' two cello sonatas, which will serve as a window into romanticism, and moreover, a sort of looking-glass that mirrors Chang's transformation as an artist. ``Brahms' sonatas were always an important part of my growth," said Chang. The E minor sonata was the piece she played in her first lesson with Maestro Mischa Maisky at the tender age of 10. Naturally, an artist's interpretation of music evolves over time as ``the

Nov 1, 2009

Professors to Bring Korean Poetry to Wider Audience

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter A common interest in Korean poetry has turned into a winning collaboration, as two U.S.-based professors, Song Chae-pyong and Anne Rashid, won the Grand Prize for Poetry at the 40th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards. Song, an associate professor of English at Marygrove College in Detroit, Mich., and Rashid, an assistant English professor at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pa., were recognized for their translation of six of Kim Hye-soon' poems. The two professors decided to join the competition because they ``wanted to be a part of this exciting opportunity to promote modern Korean literary translations." Together, they worked hard to submit their best work but didn't quite expect to take home the top prize. ``We put our best into the translation so we felt confident, but, knowing that lots of first-rate translators are out there, we weren't totally sure about our chances. It's a great honor to win the prize," Song said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times. Since both teach at U.S. colleges, Song and Rashid

Nov 1, 2009

Translations a Way to Connect With Heritage

By Han Sang-hee Staff Reporter For Korean-American and English major Irene Park, it was bothersome to find that it was so hard for third-generation Koreans in the United States to find an easy gateway to connect with their ethnic heritage. This perhaps was the reason why the 24-year-old aspiring writer was drawn to the 40th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, where she eventually won the grand prize for fiction. ``There are many creative minds among the Korean literary populace just waiting to burst into the arena of international renown, but hardly sufficient venues to give voice to these individuals and their brilliance. I always found this to be unfortunate,'' Park said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times. Park won the award by translating Yoon Sung-hee's ``Possibly,'' a winner at the Yi Sang Literature Award in 2008. It was by chance that she found the novel to work on, which she thought was ``simultaneously charming and melancholy.'' ``(I) loved the twist of eternally purple-lipped children, which I interpreted as a humorous and even somewh

Nov 1, 2009

Getting Closer to the Nobel Prize

By Han Sang-hee Staff Reporter A Korean writer winning the Nobel Prize for literature may seem like a distant wish, but with more efforts from people like Jessica Conte and Han Hae-min, that dream may well materialize in the future. We have so many good works of literature but there are few translated ones). I feel the need of more translated literary works, so someday the Nobel Prize may go to a Korean writer,'' said Han, who, along with Conte, won the Commendation Award in Fiction for the 40th Modern Korean Literature Awards. ``Jessica and I have always talked about the lack of English translations of Korean literature and movies. Although there are many good works, when they are translated in English there are mistranslations and even grammar mistakes. We felt this was so unfortunate,'' Han said. Conte, 26, and Han, 30, chose famed novelist Jeon Gyeong-rin's ``An Angel Stays Here'' for the contest. ``Jeong is one of Hae-min's favorite writers, and she recommended her right away. An Angel Stays Here is such a thought-provoking piece that covers very controversial

Nov 1, 2009

Connecting Translations More With Readers Is Key

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 i

Nov 1, 2009

About the Authors

Yoon Sung-hee Born in 1973 in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, novelist Yoon Sung-hee graduated from Chongju University majoring philosophy. She made her debut with her short story "The House Made of Lego'' in 1999 through the Dong-A Ilbo Literary Contest. Famous for her simple, yet strong literary style, Yoon's works have been recognized by feted awards, including the Contemporary Literature Award and the Yi Sang Literature Award. Some of the most famous works, such as `` The Coat with 33 Buttons'' and ``Stairs,'' were carried in the publisher Hyundai Munhak's ``The Best Novel of the Year by Critics'' for four consecutive years, while her novel ``You, There?" was made into the movie ``Heartbreak Library'' starring Eugene and Lee Dong-wook in 2008. Kim Hye-soon Poet and professor Kim Hye-soon was born in 1955 at Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province. She graduated from Konkuk University majoring Korean literature and started writing poems from there. Her literary career took off when she debuted with her poem ``The Corpse that Smokes Cigarettes'' in 1979. In 1997, she re

Nov 1, 2009

Winning Poems

A Sand Woman (9) From inside sand a woman was lifted up― she was intact, not even a hair damaged After his departure she hadn't slept or eaten, it was said― though she kept her eyes closed, and wasn't breathing, she wasn't dead People came and took her away― they undressed her, immersed her in salt water, parted her legs, cut her hair, opened her chest, I was told Though they said he had died at the battlefield and even though the country she left was far away, the woman held her breath and didn't release it into the world― though knife blades went in and out of her body, she would not open her eyes. They sewed her up again and laid her down inside a glass case― he, whom she had been awaiting, didn't come, but from four corners fingers pressed in Every day I looked down vacantly on two hands they laid out on paper― after they lifted up the woman hidden inside sand, I wanted to escape far away from here on a camel In every dream the woman followed me and opened her closed eyes like a flash― the insides of her eyelids were wider and deeper tha

Nov 1, 2009

Winning Fiction Possibly

Member Intro The last thing we ate was a Jaws Bar popsicle. It was actually on the bus to our field trip at Seorak Mountain. As each of our classmates starting from the front began singing, Thumbtack kept spitting about how horrible it was more than ten times. Why Thumbtack? Her head is huge. "I better pretend I'm sleeping." Radio who was sitting in front of Thumbtack said while hitting the seat adjuster button. That made Thumbtack's chair bend backwards. "Radio, this is my chair. You need to press that one over there." "Alright. You should just sleep, too." Radio pulled out her jacket and covered Thumbtack's knees for her. Radio listens to the radio every night. It's a hand-me-down from her mother and she says the frequency adjuster is broken. That radio is over 60-years old. One that's been passed down from daughter to daughter. Does the thing work? According to Radio it still plays fine. It's just that the listener can't adjust the frequency. "My radio chooses stations on its own." That's what Radio said. "Yesterday an Italian station came on. It played all operas for three wh

Nov 1, 2009

Editors Note

The Korea Times is happy to present the four winning works of the 40th Korean Literature Translation Award: Yoon Sung-hee's ``Possibly,'' translated by Irene Park (Grand Prize in Fiction); and Kim Hye-soon's poems translated by Song Chae-pyong and Anne Rashid (Grand Prize in Poetry). There are also two Commendation Awards both in fiction. They are Jeon Gyeong-rin's ``An Angel Stays Here,'' translated by Jessica Conte and Han Hae-min; and Park Wan-suh's ``Ode for Longing,'' translated by Andrew McCullough. As part of our 59th anniversary edition of The Korea Times, we are proud to publish some of the winning works ― the first sections of Yoon's ``Possibly'' translated by Irene Park and Kim Hye-soon's poem translated by Song and Rashid. The Korea Times and Korea Exchange Bank, which sponsored the contest, would like to thank Brother Anthony, professor emeritus at Sogang University, professor Min Eun-kyung of Seoul National University and professor Jung Ha-yun of Ewha Womans University, who just joined the board of judges for the award. They took the time out of their busy sch

Nov 1, 2009

The Judges’ Report

By Brother Anthony, Professor Min Eun-kyung and Professor Jung Ha-yun It was a great relief for the judges to have their number increased to three this year. There were so many good translations being submitted in the fiction category that the final screening required a great deal of close reading in order to pinpoint the entry that really deserved the highest award. There were almost thirty entries for fiction this year, surely a record, and ten for poetry. As usual, the judges received the entries anonymously. This year, like most recent years, the judges found the entries for poetry disappointing, with only a few deserving closer examination. It is clear that not many people are able to combine a deep understanding of Korean poetry with the linguistic and poetic skills required to produce convincing English poems as translations. However, in this year's fiction category, there were a large number of what we felt were good draft translations of works of fiction. However, there is a considerable gap between a good draft version and an excellent, completed tr

Nov 1, 2009
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