From Being to Being

Characterized by genius wordplay, Oh Eun’s poems play with homophones and homonyms while keeping the wit, criticalness, and beauty we associate with Korean poetry.

In their sonic play, Oh Eun’s poems bounce dangerously on a tightrope of language. These are poems that in their content and form simultaneously expand the boundaries of language and delight, and in their subject matter engage with both a desire for a shared humanity while offering a biting criticism of Korean society.

A controversial poet, he has received a number of the Korean literary world’s biggest prizes, including the Daesan Literary Award, but also has faced criticism for his daring individuality. Brilliantly translated into a limber and tactile English by Shyun Ahn, co-translator of Kim Hyun’s Glory Hole, English readers will finally have the opportunity to see why Oh Eun’s style and tone set him in a school of his own.

Oh Eun received a Bachelor’s degree in sociology at Seoul National University and received a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Culture Technology at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Oh Eun’s poetry collections in Korean include Pigs at the Hôtel Tassel, We Love Atmosphere, From Being to Being, The Left Hand is Heartbroken, and I Had a Name, as well as essay collections You Are a Dangerous Robot Right Now, You and Me and Yellow, and Consolation. He has won the Park In-hwan Literary Award, the Ku Sang Poetry Award, the Contemporary Poetry Prize, and the Daesan Literature Award. Currently, he is a member of the literary circle Jak-ran.

Shyun (Suhyun) Ahn translates Korean poems to English. He is the translator of Kim Hyun’s Glory Hole, and he founded and served as the editor-in-chief of Nabillera: Contemporary Korean Literature. He graduated from Tufts University with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and international literary and visual studies. He voluntarily left a Ph.D. program in East Asian studies at Princeton University to join the US Army as an officer candidate.