Author: Lee Seong-bok
Translated by: Anton Hur
Publisher: Knopf, expected Aug 2026
Original title: 그 여름의 끝, 1990
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One hundred and six poems of self-reflection and exquisite beauty—an intoxicating blend of Seon Buddhism and French symbolism, and the first poetry collection from this essential South Korean author to appear in English
That summer I stood in the centers of storms That summer my despair burst out into crimson but still I weathered the wind and rain
Mountains, rivers, trees, flowers, the dark, a cat, a train. In the elemental forms and figures of our world, Lee Seong-bok finds repositories for thought, sounding boards against which he can test his reflections. Again and again, in sequences, he probes his subjects — five “Mountain Path” poems, three “River” poems, three commentaries on the I Ching — not to solicit answers, like Moses impatiently striking the rock for water, but to savour the muted tones that echo in response.
After one ruckus / begins another / The silent forest vibrates // Suffering was always / new suffering
The poems of That Summer’s End, though acutely conscious of the self, are free of an inhibiting self-consciousness, speaking directly of youth, love, fear, family, grief, old age, impermanence, and all that’s central to life. As enticing as they are profound, Lee Seong-bok’s poems have made him not only a poet’s poet but a favorite of RM, leader of K-pop superstars BTS, whose support of his work on social media has brought him international attention.
Source: publisher’s website