The Guardian / April 25, 2017

keulmadang / March 14, 2011

Ah, les choses sans bouche, titre du recueil, repris d’un poème intrigue le lecteur. L’apparition de  l’interjection « ah » en tête de phrase éloigne la certitude pourtant logique que seul l’homme a une bouche. L’usage de la bouche n’est peut être pas la seule façon de parler, et pour s’adresser à son lecteur, ce n’est pas sa bouche que LEE Seong-bok utilise. Son écriture poétique est introspective. Chacun de ses mots a une puissance telle qu’il ne peut être qu’une partie de lui-même. C’est donc son sang que l’on a l’impression de voir s’étaler sur la page en guise d’encre, comme si la catharsis que l’auteur cherche à atteindre passe tant par le vide spirituel que physique. La poésie de LEE Seong-bok se caractérise par des mots crus qui ne ménagent pas le lecteur.  Il s’agit de décrire le corps, la prison de chair et de sang dans laquelle tout homme est enfermé. Choquante au départ, la comparaison des vagues avec « du pus blanc sur le corps ulcéré » passe inaperçue dans un recueil de poèmes pour le moins différents des classiques français, où les mots vont droit au but.  Ces poèmes sont l’écriture de l’homme, et il n’y a pas d’autre choix que de se découvrir dans le miroir que l’on nous tend, même si l’image qui nous fait face ne pousse pas au narcissisme.

Culturamas / April 16, 2013

Murmullos de gloria es un libro de poesía cargada de lo onírico y “lo natural” entendido esto desde el punto de vista de todo lo relacionado con la naturaleza: el viento, las olas, las montañas, el aire…, podría decirse que el verso fluye con una cadencia zen.

Литературная газета / December 13, 2007

Зал «Толстой» гостиницы «Рэдиссон-Славянская» ахнул — то ли восторженно, то ли с завистью. Классик корейской литературы Ко Ын, заверив, что, как и русские, относится к водке, как к религии, тут же подтвердил сказанное, глотнув прямо из горлышка сорокоградусной.

list_Books from Korea / -

Chong Hyon-jong, A Poet Who Steals the Air   on Oct 19 2014 02:04:27 Vol.10 Winter 2010 On a toasty, sunlit afternoon, could there be anything more perfect than interviewing a poet? This is just wishful thinking, but if I could capture the poet Chong Hyon-jong’s departing laugh on this page, I would just stop writing. He has a fierce gaze but a wholesome laughter. Chong was born in Seoul in 1939. Since his literary debut through the journal Hyundae Munhak in 1965, he has published poetry collections including The Dream of Things; I Am the Uncle-Star; Like the Ball that Bounces; So Little Time to Love; Blossom; Trees of the World; Like a Thirst, Like a Spring; Unbearable; and Whispers of Splendor. And his critical essay collections include Soar Up, Gloomy Soul, and Breath and Dream. His poetic world attracted unusual attention from critics and readers early on, and as a result he has been the recipient of Korea's leading literary prizes including the Isan Literary Award, Hyundae Literary Award, Daesan Literary Award, and Midang Literary Award. Moreover, he took the lead in introducing poets like Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca to Korea by translating their poetry. For his translations of Neruda, he was one of the hundred writers and other literary contributors around the world who were awarded the Pablo Neruda Medal by the Chilean government on the centennial of the poet's birth. Chong 's poetry has been translated into many languages abroad.

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"In Praise of Thunder" by Chong Hyon-jong     BY CHONG HYON-JONG ON NOV 10 2014 05:32:49 VOL.10 WINTER 2010     Day-Shine Chong Hyon-jong Choe Wolhee Peter Fusco Cornell University East Asia Program 1998 128pp. ISBN 978-1885445940   In Praise of Thunder How, on a summer day, without the thunderbolt which cracks the backbone of heaven and earth how can a man cleanse himself body and soul, really scrub and cool himself -light as air to shift like a breeze let the dawn inundate him?

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Literary and Cinematic Imagination Rising from the Darkness (1970s-mid 1990s)   By Lee Sang-yong on Oct 28 2014 02:07:30 Vol.6 Winter 2009 During the time of rule by military dictatorship to riding the historical wave of democracy, the boundaries between literature and cinema naturally crumbled and interaction between the two fields increased. Turning bestselling novels into blockbuster films was a major trend at the time.   During this period, Korean culture was considered to be at a crossroads of darkness and light. Under military dictatorships that began in the 70s and lasted until the early 90s, there were limits to what artists could express. But with the advent of the so-called hangeul generation, growing interest in popular culture and the wave of democracy all led to the deluge of popular culture seen in the 90s. Within this historical context, the boundaries between literature and cinema naturally crumbled, and the interaction between the two fields increased. Certain authors not only started writing screenplays early on, but also began to participate in film productions. And some authors went on to forge steady partnerships with specific directors. From the late 60s to the 70s, author Kim Seungok was without equal. Considered to be one of the best modernist writers of the 60s, his writing defined an era. But before Kim Seungok made his literary debut, he worked as a newspaper cartoonist. And even after he became an author, he also worked as a screenplay writer and a film director. In his autobiography, The Lord I Met, the author says that after he directed Potato (1968), he anguished over whether to continue working as a director or to commit fully to his life as an author. Of course, his film, Potato is by no means a masterpiece, but it should be notated that he helped usher in the 70s: a time when film and cinema blossomed together. And this proves how multi-talented he was.

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Rediscovering the Self Through Lyricism By Yoo Sungho on Oct 31 2014 07:21:25 Vol.10 Winter 2010 As Korea struggled with democracy and industrialization, poets explored lyricism and the inner self.     Through the 1960s, Korean poetry pursued the creative integration of social consciousness and lyricism rather than traditional sentiments, based on the experiences of those who had lived through the April 19 Revolution. Such change could be seen in the leading poets such as Seo Jeong-ju, Kim Hyun-seung, Park Mok-wol, Kim Gwang-seop, Pak Tu-jin, and Cho Chi-hun. For example, Seo Jeong-ju built his own linguistic fortress with a unique mythical imagination and a mastery of the language while Kim Hyun-seung explored the existence of an individual who stands face to face with God. Park Mok-wol turned around from his nature-oriented imagination and delved deeply into the joys and sorrows of the city people and Kim Gwang-seop criticized civilization in The Pigeons of Seongbuk-dong, which was a rare attempt at the time. These poets all explored topics with immutable values such as nature, the individual, the inner self, existence, and the classics, thus diversifying the genre. Just as the poetry of the 1960s wa s ba sed on the possibilities created by the April 19 Revolution, the poetry of the 1970s bloomed amid political oppression and the waves of industrialization. While Ko Un, Shin Kyeong-nim, Kim Ji-ha, Cho Tae-il, Lee Sung-boo, Jeong Hee-sung, and Lee Si-young demonstrated social lyricism, Hwang Tong-gyu, Chong Hyon-jong, Choe Ha-rim, Mah Chong-gi, Oh Kyu-won, Kim Kwang-kyu, Kim Myung-in, and Park Jung-man presented diverse inner experiences based on ontological explorations. Meanwhile, poets like Heu Young-ja, Chung Jin-kyu, Lee Keun-bae, Kim Huran, Oh Tak-bon, Yoo An-jin, Park E-dou, Ra Tae-joo, Lee Soo-ik, Song Soo-kwon, Oh Sae-young, Lee Geon-cheong, Kang Eun-gyo, Shin Dalja, Lim Young-jo, Lee Sung-sun, Moon Chung-hee, Kim Hyeong-young, Cho Jeong-kwon, Hong Shin-seon, Sin Dae-chul, Kim Jong-hae, Kim Jong-chul, Lee Ga-rim, Kim Seung-hee, Lee Jun-gwan, Lee kee-chul, Cho Chang-whan, and Yoon Suk-san continued their path in exploring lyricism.

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The Rise of a Modern Sensibility   By Lee Kwang-ho on Oct 28 2014 02:50:05 Vol.10 Winter 2010 The dawn of a new generation of poets opened the possibilities of experimentation and diversification.     One of the driving forces of modern Korean poetry has been the pursuit of modernity. The efforts to attain a sense of the contemporary that went beyond traditional lyricism became active in the Korean literary scene in the 1930s. Korean poetry, however, only began to include the diversity and depth of modernity after liberation and division in the 1960s when a new generation emerged as literary leaders. After liberation, poets Kim Soo-young and Kim Chunsu pursued two aspects of modernity: a “critique of reality” and the “autonomy of language,” both of which had a major influence on the subsequent development of poetry in Korea. The struggle against the detached and lofty nature of Korean literature and the oppressiveness of Korean society meant that the poetic methodology itself came to signify resistance against reality. The way poetic language responded to the oppressive reality of the times was in itself an aesthetic achievement and a form of resistance. The “April 19 generation” that entered Korean literature after the epochal April 19 Revolution in 1960, was the leading force behind it. The poetry of this generation recognized an oppressive reality as the problem of existence and explored the poetic methodology that could expose it. Such poetry was based on the relationship of tension between the autonomy of literary language and reality. It can be seen as the exploration of modernity in Korean poetry as a response to the industrialization that took place in the 1960s and the 1970s.

LITERARY HUB / December 15, 2023

Today, the National Book Critics Circle announced the longlist for the Barrios Book in Translation Prize. The prize, now in its second year, “celebrates the artistic merit of literature in translation in any genre and seeks to recognize the valuable work of translators in expanding and enriching American literary culture by bringing world literature to English-language readers.”