This book is published to commemorate the centennial of the first landing of Korean immigrants in America in 1903. An anthology of poems, essays and short stories by thirty-seven Korean-American writers, Surfacing Sadness is the first serious effort to bring together the Korean-American literary experiences to join mainstream American literature. The book primarily contains translations … [Read More]
Booklist: Literature Fiction and Poetry (page 56)
A Hundred Love Poems from Old Korea
From the publisher’s website: Korea’s traditional love poetry is little known in the West. This anthology contains examples of all genres: vernacular to long lyrical poems. A witty informative commentary links the poems and sets them in context. [Read More]
Notes from the Divided Country
In her first collection, Suji Kwock Kim confronts a number of difficult subjects: colonialism, the Korean War, emigration, racism, and love. She considers what a homeland would be for a divided nation and a divided self: what it means to enter language, the body, the family, the community; to be a daughter, sister, lover, citizen, … [Read More]
My Innocent Uncle
Ch’ae Man-shik is one of the great talents of modern Korean literature. His penetrating mind, command of idiom, utterly realistic dialogue, and keen wit produced a fictional style all his own. This volume contains three of his finest stories, two published during the Japanese colonial occupation of Korea (1910-1945) and one shortly thereafter. In each … [Read More]
Korean Short Stories: A Collection from North Korea
A collection of short stories from North Korea, originally published in Pyongyang in 1986: History of Iron (1967) – Pyon Hui Gun Happiness (1963) – Sok Yun Gi Ogi (1961) – Chon Se Bong Fellow Travellers (1960) – Kim Byong Hun Everyone in Position! (1974) – Om Dan Ung Unfinished Sculpture (post 1980) – Ko … [Read More]
Imagining America: Stories from the Promised Land
Only listed on this site because it contains a short story by Kim Yong-ik entitled They Won’t Crack it Open, highly rated by Charles over at KTLit.com. Amazon has the following blurb about the collection: The acclaimed multicultural fiction anthology, updated to include recent writers. Thirty-seven short stories from 1900 to the present, written by … [Read More]
House of Idols
No synopsis available [Read More]
A Man
No synopsis available. Contains the stories: A Man Bibari The Dog of Crossover Village / Dogs in the Village beyond Hills [Read More]
A Distant and Beautiful Place
Somewhere on the periphery of Seoul, between the modern metropolis and the traditional farming communities, lies a “distant and beautiful place,” the neighborhood of Wonmi-dong. Here, a young couple from the city struggles to make a home for themselves; a hapless “salary man” is forced into door-to-door sales after losing his job; a precocious seven-year-old … [Read More]
The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry
From the publisher’s website: This groundbreaking anthology, edited by the veteran scholar who founded the field of Korean literature in the West, offers a representative selection from the four major genres of native Korean poetry: the Silla songs known as hyangga, Koryo songs, sijo, and kasa. The performance of oral songs was central to the … [Read More]
The Book of Corrections: Reflections on the National Crisis During the Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592-1598
The Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, known as the Imjin War, was one of the most tragic and traumatic experiences in Korean history. The magnitude of this tragedy was unprecedented. Hundreds of thousands died, and the country was devastated. It took many years for Korea to recover. Looking back upon this tragedy from start … [Read More]
The Interpreter
From the publisher’s website: Suzy Park is a twenty-nine-year-old Korean American interpreter for the New York City court system who makes a startling and ominous discovery about her family history that will send her on a chilling quest. Five years prior, her parents–hardworking greengrocers who forfeited personal happiness for their children’s gain–were brutally murdered in … [Read More]
Among the Flowering Reeds: An Anthology of Classic Korean Poetry Written in Chinese
From the publisher’s website: Up until the 17th century, the bulk of Korean poetry was written in Chinese, the language of poets, scholars, and monks. This work became an integral part of Korean literary tradition. Among the Flowering Reeds, which introduces this important poetic tradition to the English-speaking audience, includes 100 poems spanning more than 1,000 … [Read More]
The Camellias
Includes three stories: The Camellias The Scorching Heat A Wanderer in the Valleys [Read More]
The General’s Beard: Two Novellas
Two stories by a leading Korean thinker explore the ambiguities of a rapidly changing culture. In The General’s Beard, a journalist tries to solve the mystery of a young photographer’s death. He explores hints from the dead man’s journal and interviews his former girlfriend but remains far from an explanation. In Phantom Legs, a young … [Read More]