Author: Kim Seung-hee
Translated by: Kyung-Nyun Kim Richards, Steffen F Richards
Publisher: Homa + Sekey, 2004
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From the publisher’s website:
The 103 poems in this volume by Kim Seung-hee cover a number of themes: sacredness of the life force, conditions of women, mother-daughter relationship, and husband-wife relationship. “Female Buddha” paints a vivid picture of a woman’s agony in the delivery room and the triumphant birth of a new life. In “The Legendary Flute of Shilla,” Kim poses a question to her husband: “Is it possible to live together, yet as if not, or to live apart, yet as if together?”
Her works also deal with the cold and dehumanizing aspects of modern urban life, and the longing for freedom as an absolute ideal. “Hijacking an Airplane” best expresses her desire to transcend existence and liberate the individual from everything that confines and oppresses.
THE AUTHOR
Born in Kwang-ju, South Korea, Kim Seung-hee attended Sogang University studying English literature. In 1973, she won first place in the poetry category in a literary contest held by Kyung-hyang Daily Newspaper. Since then Kim Seung-hee has published eight volumes of poetry, several collections of essays, a critical biography and two novels. A prolific writer and a professor, she has garnered numerous honors and prizes, including the prestigious So-wol Poetry Award in 1990.