A parallel review of Shin Kyung-sook’s The Place where the Harmonium Was and Choi Eun-young’s The Summer. Two vivid depictions of the joy and pain of relationships. The Summer is a straightforward and immediately appealing read; The Harmonium is more difficult but nevertheless rewarding. [Read More]
Translator: Agnita Tennant
Selected translations
- Shin Kyung-sook: The Place Where the Harmonium Was (Bi-lingual, Vol 12 – Women) tr Agnita Tennant, Asia Publishers 2012
- Park Kyung-ni: Land (Vols 1, 2 and 3) tr Agnita Tennant, Global Oriental 2009
- Kim Wonil: Evening Glow tr Agnita Tennant, Jain Publishing 2003
- Im Cheol-woo: With her oil lamp on, that night tr Agnita Tennant, Jimoondang 2002
- Anthology: The Star and Other Korean Short Stories ed Agnita Tennant, Kegan Paul Intl 1996
- Park Kyung-ni: Land (Vol 1) tr Agnita Tennant, Routledge 1996
Publications by Agnita Tennant as author
- Magnolia: a novel, Renaissance 2015
Translation and cultural uniqueness – another take on the KCC Literature workshop
I’ve long been interested in knowing more about modern Korean literature. So I learnt with interest about the Korean literature workshop (Tuesday, June 26, 5-7pm) and looked forward to it as I arrived for the event at the Korean Cultural Centre on London’s Strand. The evening began with a talk by Dr Grace Koh of … [Read More]
The Word for ‘여’, and the Korean for ‘About Raindrops’ – Ra Hee-duk at the KCC Literature workshop
In 21 October, 2009 KCC hosted a Korea Literature Workshop in the presence of Ch’oe Yun of ‘There a Petal silently falls’. The session, facilitated by Dr Jo Elfving-Hwang of Sheffield University, turned out to be a ‘creative’ response to the aspects of the author’s work. It was something of a deja vu to turn … [Read More]
The challenges of translation addressed at All Eyes on Korea literature talk
On 26 June, the KCC UK Korean Literature Workshop opened with a KCC official’s welcoming speech followed by Dr Grace Koh’s lecture (SOAS). Dr Koh emphasized the paramount importance of national identity in post-colonial literature. To introduce Korean literary works to the English-speaking world, we need to understand the issues surrounding translation. They are reception … [Read More]
Korean Literature Workshop: Understanding Korean Literature in Global Contexts
What a good idea. Ever since the KCC stopped its participation in the Korean literature essay contest, we haven’t had much focus on Korean literature other than the book launch for Park Kyung-ni’s T’oji. So as part of the KCC’s All Eyes on Korea celebration of Korean culture during the London Olympics we’re getting a … [Read More]
I’m one volume in to T’oji, and nothing’s happened yet
Why Park Kyung-ni’s epic novel “Land” is like the long-running BBC radio soap opera “The Archers”. And why someone should create a Reader’s Digest version. [Read More]
“A major addition to world literature” – a report from the launch of the translation of Park Kyung-ni’s T’oji
Monday night at the KCC was part celebration, part education: the launch of an English translation of a major portion of one of Korea’s best-loved modern epics: Park Kyung-ni’s Land. The evening was fronted by the translation’s publisher, Global Oriental (now part of the 300 year old Brill publishing house), but the three speakers were … [Read More]
A celebration of the launch of Park Kyung-ni’s Land in translation
In the mid-90s Kegan Paul published what was billed as Part 1 of Park Kyung-ni’s epic novel, Land (Toji). Translated by Agnita Tennant (Née Hong), the volume extended to 657 pages. In fact, this was only half of Part 1. Global Oriental is now publishing all of it, in three volumes totalling 1,172 pages. There’s … [Read More]