Dawn of Labor, at last translated into English, is the legendary South Korean poet Park Nohae’s first collection, published in 1984 when he was twenty-seven years old. Despite a government ban, the book sold a million copies and propelled Park Nohae as the generation’s leading resistance poet. Dawn of Labor is an enduring classic that shook a … [Read More]
Booklist: Poetry in Translation
A listing of Korean poems in English translation. Titles are sorted in date of publication in English translation, most recent first. An alphabetical listing by author can be found here.
I’ll write again tomorrow
May my poetry not lean on plausible deniability, may it not mask or embellish the present me with the past me that has already passed. I hope the things I get angry about don’t harden into conventions, and I hope the things I love are written down waiting to be deepened. From“ Poet’s Essay” He … [Read More]
Love Songs Sung with the Body
I want to love, I want to hug, I want to be together, I want to be together and look at the same place, but it doesn’t work out. It seems to work but it doesn’t, it seems to work but it doesn’t work. It’s not just an erotic relationship. The appearance of thirst among … [Read More]
Parting After Parting (K- Poet 34)
Poet Jang Seok-won’s “Farewell After Farewell” in K-Poet Series, Songs that Begin with Revolution and Love Once Again Poet Jang Seok-won’s sixth collection of poems, 『Farewell After Farewell』, a poet who loves music and poetry, has been published in the 34th volume of the K-Poet Series. In 2002, the poet joined the Korea Daily (now … [Read More]
Rock Is Thunder (K-Poet 35)
Poet Lee Jae-hoon’s “Stones Are Thunder” Lending Tears to the Silent Poet Lee Jae-hoon’s fifth collection of poems, “Stones Are Thunder,” will be published as the 35th volume of the K-Poet series. Poet Lee Jae-hoon began his career in 1998 with Contemporary Poetry and has published poetry collections such as My First Report on the … [Read More]
Indeterminate Inflorescence
“Poetry is the restoration of the whole through details. Think of it as making a sketch of a face only briefly seen. Just as one puts together a shattered skull or an earthenware pot, poetry is the creation of the pieces that go in the spots where the original pieces are missing.” Indeterminate Inflorescence is a … [Read More]
Ancient, Medieval, and Premodern Korean Songs and Poems: An Historical Anthology, With Parallel Texts in Korean and English
This historical anthology of Korean poetry, Ancient, Medieval, and Premodern Korean Songs and Poems highlights the evolution of poetic composition in the vernacular. The book is a manifesto of the uniquely Korean poetic tradition, which flourished quite separately along with the literary tradition retained by the men of letters devoted to the scholarship in classical Chinese. The … [Read More]
Love and the Beginning (K-Poet 33)
Kwon’s third collection of poems, Love and Beginning, has been published in 33 volumes in the K-Poet series. Poet Kwon Park received a lot of attention when he won the Kim Sooyoung Literary Award for 『It’s My Turn to Understand』 and expanded the world of his own work through his second collection of poems, 『Is … [Read More]
Am I Not Your Sin (K-Poet 31)
As the 31st volume of the K-Poet series, poet Choi Ji-in’s 『Isn’t Your Sin Me?』 was published. This is her third collection of poems after “I Slept Against the Wall” and “Work, Work, Love.” If his previous collection of poems specifically portrayed the voices of the young generation living in the 21st century, in this … [Read More]
Poverty Must Persist (K-Poet 32)
As the 32nd volume of the K-Poet series, Kim Sai’s 『Poverty Must Be Maintained』 was published. This is her third collection of poems after “The Day I Quit Reflecting” and “I Say I’m Not Doing Anything.” As a poet who desperately portrayed the absurdity of the workplace and the reality of female workers suffering doubly … [Read More]
Phantom Pain Wings
Winged ventriloquy—a powerful new poetry collection channeling the language of birds by South Korea’s most innovative contemporary writer This book is about the realization of / I-thought-bird-was-part-of-me-but-Iwas-part-of-bird sequence / It’s a delayed record of such a sequence. An iconic figure in the emergence of feminist poetry in South Korea and now internationally renowned, Kim Hyesoon … [Read More]
Concealed Words
A debut English-language collection of hopeful and carefully attentive poems by one of South Korea’s most lauded young poets. This collection offers a selection of poems from Sin Yong-mok’s earlier collections, intended to serve as an illustration of his evolution as a poet, alongside a complete translation of the poems from his fourth collection, When … [Read More]
Encore (K-Poet 30)
“Somewhere, no matter how hard you try to hide it, there will be a light that will not recede.” Poet Shin Dong-ok’s 『Encore』 The 30th collection of poems in the K-Poet series, which meets together in Korean and English, has been published, and poet Shin Dong-ok’s 『Encore』 has been published. Since his debut in 2001, … [Read More]
I’ll Give You All My Promenade (K-Poet 29)
The moment it is removed, the text becomes detached from the artist and becomes an object floating in the world. Every time the reader reads, the poet’s walk toward “you” is constantly made into the present. So the poet leaves us with a message addressed to “you”. You” are to give everyone their own path … [Read More]
Counting the Stars at Night: The Complete Works in Verse and Prose
This book contains the complete works of Yoon Dong-ju (1917-1945), one of the most beloved poets for all Koreans, and is the first attempt at English translation in their entirety, poetry and prose. Yoon’s writings reflect the ardor and longing lodged in every young man’s and woman’s heart. In that sense, the poems contained herein … [Read More]
A Morning with only Writing Left (K-Poet 28)
I opened my eyes Rhodopsin had disintegrated. He wasn’t there and the candle was weeping alone. I missed him who had disappeared. Time transitioned into a story, and I saw the shadow of a moving tree outside the window and the feathers of a bird flapping its wings and flying from a branch. It was … [Read More]