Book club presents poet Ko Un
Poet Ko Un / courtesy of Brother Anthony
By John Redmond
The Seoul Book and Culture Club invites guests to meet Korean poet Ko Un, Saturday.
Ko, author of “First Person Sorrowful,” “Ten Thousand Lives,” “Songs for Tomorrow: A Collection of Poems 1961-2001” among other volumes of poetry, will give a reading, interview and book signing.
The guest moderator for this event is Brother Anthony, renowned Korean literature translator, emeritus professor at Sogang University and president of the Korean branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
Ko and Brother Anthony will read some of Ko’s poems together and then engage in a conversation that will be translated. This will be followed by an audience question-and-answer session and a book signing.
The event is co-organized with ASIA Publishers. ASIA Publishers are behind the bilingual K-Fiction series of short stories, considered the most exciting Korean literature available in English.
Ko began publishing in 1958. He has published approximately 155 volumes of poetry, works of fiction (in particular, Buddhist fiction), autobiographies, dramas, essays, translations from classical Chinese and travel books.
“Maninbo,” also known as “Ten Thousand Lives,” is one of his most representative works, depicting every person he encountered through poems.
Born in 1933 in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Ko is regarded as one of the most prolific Korean contemporary writers and is now leading reunification efforts with North Korea.
In 2000, he visited North Korea as one of the special delegates for the inter-Korean summit.
Ko was imprisoned several times for protesting the military dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.
The event moderator Brother Anthony of Taize is also known by his Korean name An Sonjae, meaning “little pilgrim.”
Brother Anothony is a celebrated translator of Korean literature. In 2010 he was appointed a chair-professor at Dankook University with special responsibilities at the International Creative Writing Center.
His work as a translator has seen him receive the Korea Times Translation Award, the Daesan Translation Award, the Korean Republic's Literary Award and the Korean PEN Translation Award.
In 1994, Brother Anthony was naturalized as a Korean citizen.
The Seoul Book and Culture Club, a gathering of bibliophiles that takes place in Seoul at least once a month, has hosted regular meetings since August 2011.
Event host Welsh, organizer of the Seoul Film Society, is also a columnist for the Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times. Admission is free and the talk is from 4 to 6 p.m.
The venue is Haechi Hall at the Seoul Global Cultural Center located on the fifth floor of M Plaza in Myeong-dong.
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