London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

In the Depths

The reading public of Korea was amazed when a reclusive housewife Moo-Sook Hahn “whisked away” the first prize in a contest for novel writing sponsored by a literary magazine in the early 1940’s with A Woman with a Lantern. Ever since, novelist Hahn received one literary prize or award after another including the Freedom Literature Award … [Read More]

Anthology of Korean Poetry from the Earliest Era to the Present

From the back cover: This is the first comprehensive anthology of Korean poetry ever published in the English language. In it Peter H. Lee, a Korean scholar, has selected and translated the verse of his country, ranging from the beginning of the Silla Dynasty, in 57 B.C., to the middle of the twentieth century. LKL … [Read More]

Collected Short Stories from Korea

According to Charles Montgomery, this is the second compilation of Korean translated fiction. The collection includes the following stories An Su-gil: Annals of a Ranch Choe Cheong-hui: Chomnye Choi Tae-ung: Blood Phlegm Chu Yo-seop: Mama and the Boarder Chun Young-Taik: The Cow Chun Pi-Sook: Home-coming Hahn Moo-Sook: Halo around the Moon Kim Song-Han: Coming Home … [Read More]

Voices of the Dawn

A Selection of Korean Poetry from the Sixth Century to the Present Day Also available from LTI Korea. No further information available [Read More]

Modern Short Stories from Korea

The full text of this collection is now available online on Brother Anthony’s website. Charles Montgomery’s review provides the following information: “Ten of its 20 stories focus on “love and marriage,” and the rest are characterized as “social stories.” Most demonstrate a kind of depth and lack of didacticism that would soon almost vanish from … [Read More]

Before Love Fades Away

No further information available. But I am surprised to find that, according to WorldCat, there is a copy in a public library within a mile or two of LKL Towers. [Read More]

Folk Tales from Korea

From the publisher’s website: Folk Tales from Korea is a fun way to access to the Korean ethos.  Enjoy these folk tales handed down through the generations and you will gain a better understanding of the Korean people.  You will most certainly recognize the Confucius influence on people’s lives. “These 99 examples are as various as they are enjoyable, some … [Read More]

Songs from Korea

Like the similar volume, Tales from Korea, this title was originally self-published (in 1936) and then republished on several occasions. For example the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa has in its library a copy of the 1948 International Cultural Association of Korea edition. The Koreana Museum in Seoul has a copy of the 1936 edition … [Read More]

The Orchid Door

“Usually considered to be the first volume of Korean poetry in English translation ever published”: Brother Anthony gives the background to the printing of this set of translations of ancient Korean poems, a volume illustrated by Lilian Miller. As he explains, Grigsby reworked some literal translations by James Scarth Gale and others, “taking them into … [Read More]

Tales from Korea

According to Worthpoint, “17 editions [were] published between 1934 and 1963 in English”. WorldCat has the 1934 edition being self-published, with subsequent versions being published by a range of houses. Difficult to obtain nowadays, though Amazon US is currently listing a copy of the 1946 edition with a price reflecting its rarity. Copies are kept … [Read More]

Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Fairies

From James Scarth Gale’s preface: To any one who would like to look somewhat into the inner soul of the Oriental, and see the peculiar spiritual existences among which he lives, the following stories will serve as true interpreters, born as they are of the three great religions of the Far East, Taoism, Buddhism and … [Read More]