Hwang Sok-yong's 'Hae Jil Muryop', A Story of Faint Shadows of Old Love
Kim I-deum's 'Hysteria', Artistic Sublimation Achieved Through Fierce Poetic Spirit
Hwang Sok-yong's novel At Dusk and Kim I-deum's poetry collection Hysteria have been named as first-round nominees for the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) Translation Awards, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea announced on the 24th. The ALTA Translation Awards are organized by the American Literary Translators Association. Final nominees will be selected by the end of this month, and winners will be announced at the ALTA online conference on the 15th of next month. Translators receive a prize of $2,500.
At Dusk, translated by Kim Sora, was published in the U.S. last year, and Hysteria, translated by Choi Hyeji, was published this year. At Dusk is Hwang Sok-yong's new work released three years after The Sound of the Yeo-ul Water. It intricately diagnoses our past and present by alternating the voices of Park Min-woo, an architect in his 60s, and Jung Woo-hee, a young theater director.
In the author's note, Hwang Sok-yong wrote, "The past of the previous generation has become karma that shapes the present of the younger generation," and "As difficult times come, we should have looked back long ago." He added, "This is truly a story about the 'faint shadow of an old love.'"
Hysteria is Kim I-deum's fifth poetry collection. It demonstrates energy that shakes the existing order with even more beautiful shockwaves. The beautiful changes in rhythm and tone, from emotional tension and climax to resolution, unfold with mature craftsmanship.
The main themes are unpleasant but trivial things encountered everywhere. Within the poems, their meanings expand powerfully. The publisher, Munhakgwa Jiseongsa, said, "Kim I-deum considers these fundamental elements of life as noble experiences and willingly embraces them," adding, "Between the occurrence of events and the poet's acceptance, this is an artistic sublimation cultivated by a resolute poetic spirit, not resignation or avoidance."
Hysteria was also included among the finalists for the Lucien Strick Literary Award, established to honor Lucien Strick, an American poet and translator. The Lucien Strick Award is given to translators. Korean-American poet and translator Choi Don-mi has won this award twice for translating Kim Hye-soon's poetry collections Autobiography of Death and Trash of the World, Unite!
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