This selection of poems by Ko Un, Korea’s leading writer, offers unique insights into how a great poet responds to the violence, war, and oppression that have ravaged Korea in this century. His first poems were written when Ko Un was a Buddhist monk. Later, he returned to a society where nihilism and doubt seemed … [Read More]
Booklist: Literature Fiction and Poetry (page 61)
The Star and Other Korean Short Stories
Eight stories by leading contemporary writers of Korea providing deeply moving insights into the human condition. They reflect a common concern with the social realities of the 1980s, with sadness and triumph emerging as unifying themes. The source of this humanity, as these stories strongly reveal, lies in powerful family bonds and a deep nostalgia … [Read More]
Land (Vol 1)
Acclaimed as an important piece of modern Korean writing, this book is set against the background of the struggle between conservative and modernizing forces at the turn of the century. It follows the fortunes of several generations of Korean villagers during a time of turbulence and change. [Read More]
The Naked Tree
A coming-of-age novel set during the Korean War, by Park Wan-Suh, one of Korea’s leading contemporary writers. The award-winning author of more than twenty novels, and numerous short stories and essays, Park often deals with the themes of Korean War tragedies, middle-class values, and women’s issues. The novel is rich with scenes of cultural clashes, … [Read More]
Poems of a Wanderer
A collection from Korea’s premier living poet [Read More]
The Clan Records
Publisher’s description: Although little known in the West, Kajiyama Toshiyuki was one of Japan’s most prolific and popular writers. Celebrated for his crisp, fast-paced style and incisive analysis, Kajiyama’s popularity may be attributed to his finely tuned sense of what many Japanese felt but could not articulate: the feeling of irreplaceable loss that lay beneath … [Read More]
Singing Like a Cricket, Hooting Like an Owl
From the publisher’s website: Kyu-bo Yi (1168–1241), the greatest of the classical Korean poets, was born into a very turbulent period of history, when the Koryo kingdom was threatened from the north by barbarians and from within by the ongoing struggle for supremacy among the various factions. His poems, confessional and transcendent, describe moments of … [Read More]
The Poet
A young man’s determination to maintain his integrity in an unjust society forces him to endure a lonely and dangerous odyssey. When a governor to the King falls into rebel hands, he switches sides to save his skin. When later he is captured by royal troops, it is not only he that is condemned to … [Read More]
Native Speaker
Description from Google Books: In Native Speaker, author Chang-rae Lee introduces readers to Henry Park. Park has spent his entire life trying to become a true American–a native speaker. But even as the essence of his adopted country continues to elude him, his Korean heritage seems to drift further and further away. Park’s harsh Korean … [Read More]
The Snowy Road and Other Stories
The Korean War and its aftermath serve as the backdrop for the six selections showcased in this collection offering the reader a rarely-glimpsed view of Korean life. Each of the authors represented here has been the recipient of the prestigious Korean People’s Literary Award . Their work focuses on ordinary Korean people and the impact … [Read More]
Classical Korean Poetry
From the publisher’s website: Introduced and Translated by Jaihiun Kim The 600 verses presented in this anthology will provide the reader with comprehensive and varied aspects of the sijo, the traditional Korean lyric, since its emergence as a fixed literary form as early as the late 12th century down to the 19th century. [Read More]
Han Sorya and North Korean Literature (+ Jackals)
This first and only study of North Korean literary history by a Western scholar deals with the crucial role played by Han Sōrya, chairman of the DPRK’s Federation of Literature and Art from 1948 to his purge in 1962, both in devising the iconography of Kim Il Sung’s personality cult and in defining the early … [Read More]
The Korean Singer of Tales
Publisher description: P’ansori, the traditional oral narrative of Korea, is sung by a highly trained soloist to the accompaniment of complex drumming. The singer both narrates the story and dramatizes all the characters, male and female. Performances require as long as six hours and make extraordinary vocal demands. In the first book-length treatment in English … [Read More]
Modern Korean Poetry
From the publisher’s website: Introduced and Translated by Jaihiun Kim A companion volume to the Classical Korean Poetry, this anthology provides the reader a bird’s eye view of modern, 20th century Korean poetry, thus completing the sampling of the Korean poetry beginning with the 12th century through the present. [Read More]
Reunion so far away: a collection of contemporary Korean fiction
According to WorldCat the contents of this volume are Korean short stories, translated into English, from the 70’s and 80’s which have previously appeared in the Korea Journal, as follows: Crow / Yi Tʼae-jun — Letters from Okinawa / Kim Jeong Han — Hye-ja’s snow flowers / Cheon Seung-se — Chinatown / Oh Jung Hee … [Read More]
Distant Valleys
From the LTI Korea website, which is just about the only place where you can buy this book: The poems of the early twentieth-century poet Chong Chi-yong breathe the air of the village, sea and mountains of the Korean peninsula. Fresh, concise, and rich in subtle, down-to-earth imagery, they brim with human affection and love … [Read More]