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37th Korean Literature Translation Award Winners

(IMG:http://photo.hankooki.com/newsphoto/2006/10/31/kt2200610311929550ex.jpg)

The Korea Times is happy to present the winning works of the 37th Korean Literature Translation Awardswas selected as the Grand Prize winner in the fiction category, and Chang Chong-il¡¯s poems translated by a team of Korean language students at Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, Calif. were selected as the Grand Prize winner in the poetry category.

As part of our 56th anniversary edition of The Korea Times, we are proud to publish three of the four winning poems in both their translated and original Korean forms.

We also congratulate Kang Nam-sook and Kari Schenk for their translation of Lee Oi-soo¡¯s novel, ¡°We Will Meet Again Someday, which received the Commendation Award in the fiction category.

The Korea Times and Korea Exchange Bank, which sponsored the contest, would like to thank professors Brother Anthony and Min Eun-kyung, who took time out of their busy schedules to judge this year¡¯s contest.

We congratulate all the winners and hope that more people will submit their translations next year.

Winning Poems for 2006

Poems by Chang Chong-il
Translated by team at Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, Calif.

Room
¹æ

if there are two rooms
we need two wardrobes
we need two calendars
we need two telephones
we need two fans
we need two heaters

if there are two rooms
we have one TV set in each room
we have one radio in each room
one person sings and claps her hands
another cries and strikes the floor

if there are two rooms
loneliness doubles
sadness doubles
tears double
concerns double
worries double

but
wisdom does not double
peace does not double
happiness does not double
joy does not double
laughter does not double

if there are two rooms
father and son firmly lock the door
from inside their individual rooms
they do not see each other for a long time
they do not talk to each other for a long time
they lie on their individual mats
either smoking
or putting out their cigarettes

if there are two rooms
if there are three rooms
if there are four rooms
...
the walls continue to be built
the walls continue to expand

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The Woman Who Cooks and
the Woman Who Fasts
¿ä¸®»ç¿Í ´Ü½Ä°¡

1
The woman lives in Room 301. She is someone who cooks. Every morning her kitchen is abundantly filled with fruit and vegetables, or meat and fish delivered by the grocery store. She either bakes or boils them.
She is lonely, and only a full stomach makes her temporarily forget her loneliness. Therefore, she is either cooking continuously, or eating incessantly.

She usually does both at the same time. What shall I cook and eat today? Her bookshelf is full of all sorts of cookbooks, and her loneliness always makes her indulge in new cuisines. Her kitchen is always emitting thick smoke. She gives a tasteful name to the cuisine she has just invented. Afterwards she transfers the dish to a tray and always brings it to the woman in Room 302.

2.
The woman lives in Room 302. She is someone who fasts. She either puts the food the woman in Room 301 just passed to her into a plastic bag and throws it away, or leaves it in the refrigerator until it dries out. She tries to resist eating even a little. She feels lonely, and only herbreath-cutting hunger seems to slightly ease her loneliness. How can I prevent myself from drinking even a mouthful of water? Her bookshelf is filled with research books about and personal accounts of fasting. Lying dehydrated on the floor, she takes pleasure in writing about her loneliness. She usually engages in fasting and writing at the same time, and continuously sends her manuscripts to literary magazines and newspapers to be considered for publication.

3.
One day, the loneliness of Room 301, who has sampled all cuisines, hungers for human meat. So she butchers Room 302, who has completely withered, to make a souffle to dine on. Not surprisingly, Room 302, exhausted from her loneliness, willingly became the basic ingredient for Room 301. So did the loneliness of the two people completely end? Room 301 is still lonely. And Room 302, now the flesh and blood of Room 301, is also still lonely.

1
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2
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3
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The Center¡¯ and I'
<Áß¾Ó>°ú ³ª

He is a person close to ¡®The Center¡¯
He always says,
I wll report it to ¡®The Center¡¯
¡®The Center¡¯ is watching it closely
¡®The Center¡¯ has prohibited it
¡®The Center¡¯ doesn¡¯t like it
It goes against the party line of ¡®The Center¡¯

Where is ¡®The Center¡¯?
What, or who, is ¡®The Center¡¯?
And what is the identity of this guy who claims he¡¯s been appointed
by ¡®The Center¡¯
which is neither seen nor heard?
Because he is constantly talking about ¡®The Center,¡¯
I grow increasingly fearful of ¡®The Center¡¯

He says,
¡®The Center¡¯ exists
in a place very far from where we live
Its orders come to us
from a very high place
that we cannot get near to
He dreams,
And if I successfully complete this assignment,
I also will go to ¡®The Center¡¯

But even after ten years pass,
¡®The Center¡¯ does not call him
Even after one hundred years flow by,
¡®The Center¡¯ does not send him a letter
Why doesn¡¯t ¡®The Center¡¯ call him?
Why doesn¡¯t ¡®The Center¡¯ remember him?
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Judges¡¯ Report for 2006

Every year, as mid-September approaches and the Translation Awards advertisement in the Korea Times grows more insistent about the approaching deadline, the judges cannot help feeling a certain suspense...

Interview With Grand Prize Winner (Fiction) Jenny Wang Medina

A Literature Translator to Watch for
English-language natives interested in the Korean literature may frequently come across the name of Jenny Wang Medina in the future ...

Interview With Grand Prize Winners (Poetry)

US Military Students Win Poetry Translation
Poetry and the military makes for an odd match. But challenging that common perception, nine young members of U.S. forces won the grand prize in the poetry category of the Translation Awards ...

Commendation Award (Fiction)

Korea-Canada Partnership Bears Fruitful Results
The notices for the 37th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards strongly recommended that translators work as a team comprising native speakers of Korean and English...

10-31-2006 16:38

[Guest_mistyred_*]

December 5, 2006 KST 18:13 (GMT+9)

Letter reaches across the centuries to relate a tale of touching romance

A letter more than four centuries old has touched the hearts of Koreans and inspired works of both art and commerce. The letter was found inside a coffin in North Gyeongsang province in April 1998, while it was being moved to another burial site. The letter, which starts "To Won's Father," was addressed to Lee Ung-tae (1556 - 1586) and placed inside his coffin in Jeongsang-dong, Andong city, North Gyeongsang province.

(IMG:http://news.joins.com/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/200612/htm_2006120509204990009100-001.JPG)

The letter touched many people with its moving words of a woman's love for her recently-deceased husband. Although she wrote that she had tried all remedies, including weaving sandals with her hair and hemp bark, her husband died at only 30 years of age. One excerpt reads, "You always said that you wanted to live with me until we were old and grey and then die together. How can you pass away without me? I can not live without you in my life."

With the letter, a total of 130 artifacts including blankets, shoes and clothing were found. All are now at the Andong National University museum.

Almost 450 years later, 500 people got to experience this love story at the Posco building art hall in Hyoja-dong, Pohang city, on the evening of Sept. 23, when it was told through dance and narration. The performance, titled "Seeing the Light after 450 Years," was a contemporary dance performance choreographed and organized by Jung Sook-hee, 47, a professor in the dance department at Andong National University.
In 2000, a Korean literature professor at the same university, Kim Jang-dong, wrote a novel of the same name (published by Taehaksa publishing company) based on the letter found in 1998. Ms. Jung took inspiration from that novel and decided to relate the story as a contemporary dance piece.

Another novel based on the letter, titled "A Trumpet Creeper" ("Neungsohwa" in Korean) was published last month by Yeidam publishing company and has been gaining popularity. The plot features a woman named Yeoni who meets Mr. Lee on a beautiful day, when trumpet creepers are in full bloom. Mr. Lee dies from a disease at the end of the novel.

"I wanted to tell this tragic love story to a modern-day audience," said author Cho Doo-jin, 39.

Park Chang-geun, 53, a music professor at Andong National University has plans to make "A Trumpet Creeper" into an opera and have it on stage by next autumn.

Last November, a musical composition titled "To Won's Father" was released.

The letter is also being used as a marketing tool for many companies. Andong Hanjee, a company which makes traditional Korean paper, has been selling copies of the letter printed on traditional Korean paper for 1,000 won ($1) since 2000. The company announced that they have sold around 20,000 copies so far.

Andong Sky, a company which sells mackerel, has also been giving copies of the letter to customers who buy their products online.

"The artifacts, such as the original letter and clothing from the 16th century, are important items for future research on the Korean language and hanbok ," said Cho Gyu-bok, 45, a researcher at Andong National University museum. "We are looking at plans to have the artifacts designated as national cultural assets," he added.

by Hong Gweon-sam <jainnie@joongang.co.kr>

[lovebunch]

Is there a version of this letter that has been translated into English? The National Geographic recently published a small article showing a photo of the woven shoes and a brief excerpt of the letter. I would like to read the letter in it's complete form and possibly read the novel based on the story. Can anyone help me in my search?