The Korea Times 2025 "Modern Korean Literature Translation Contest"

[Peter]

:
Word of this year's Korean-literature translation contest run by the Korea Times has circulated among Korean Literature Club members for a while.

This is quite a prestigious contest, held yearly since, I think, 1970. To win a prize in the Korea Times Translation Contest is a major breakthrough-moment for any would-be translator.

I may as well put a notice up here, too, at our group's GoodReads page, in case it might help someone...:

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyl...

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[Contest Rules]

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Applicants may submit a translation of 1.) a work of fiction or drama or 2.) 10 poems by the same poet. Applicants should submit only one entry in either category.

• Fiction/Drama

Candidates should submit an English translation of one work of fiction (a novel, novella or short story) or a play. The first publication date of the original Korean work should be 1980 or later. Longer works will not automatically be given preference, although some credit will be given for the additional effort involved. A translation of one portion of a long novel will be considered on the condition that it presents at least a third of the complete novel and the translator plans to translate the entire work.

• Poetry

Candidates should submit English translations of 10 poems, all by the same poet. The original poems should have been first published in or after 1980.

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[DEADLINE]

...Translations should be sent before Aug. 31, 2025...

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[Prizes]

• Grand Prize in Fiction/Drama: 7,000,000 KRW

• Grand Prize in Poetry: 4,000,000 KRW

• Commendation Awards: 2,000,000 KRW each to [unspecified number of] entries in either fiction/drama or poetry

• Kevin O'Rourke Award: 1,000,000 KRW to an entry in either fiction/drama or poetry.

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See more rules, guidelines, and submission procedures:

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyl...
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[Peter]

:
There was a question by several of our members as to whether permission from authors or publishers is needed before submitting to the Korean Translation contest.

The answer seems to be: NO.

Permission is not needed for the purposes of the contest. (Permission would presumably be needed for prospective publication, but the contest is private.)

Here is a relevant section of the rules:

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(quote)

Translations submitted must not have been published in any form before the deadline set for submissions. Works that have previously been published in English translation must not be translated again for the contest.

Candidates are not required to obtain the author's permission before translating and submitting the work for consideration. However, it is strongly advised that anyone intending to translate, especially a full-length work, should contact the author — through the publisher if necessary — before getting started, to ask whether permission could be granted or whether another translator is already working on it. Gaining permission is the responsibility of the translator and The Korea Times is not responsible for any legal disputes that may arise.

(end quote)

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https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/lifestyl...
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[Peter]

:
I've compiled a list of winners of the Korea Times Korean Literature Translation Contest over the past twenty years (2005-2024; that's more than one-third of the 55 years that the contest has existed).

Several translators and authors on this list overlap with the Korean Literature Club's activities. By that, I mean (in part) that some winners went on to translate works the Club has read.

(Familiar names include: 2015 winner Sophie Bowman, a sometimes-attendee of Club gatherings, and twice a guest discussion-leader; 2005 winner Sora Kim-Russell, who went onto considerable success and translated several works read by the Club; and not to mention Brother Anthony of Taize, not only a longtime contest-judge, also a former winner himself!)

The list:

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[2024]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Wingshun Pang (Kim Cho-yeop's "Why Don't The Pilgrims Come Back”)

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Julie Sohn (Choi Seung-ho’s poems)

Commendation Award in fiction:
-- Julie Wi (Park Ji-young's “To My Pet Rice Cooker, Cuckoo”)

Commendation Award in poetry:
-- Shane Ingan & Lee Jeong-ju (Shin Kyeong-nim’s poems)

Kevin O'Rourke Prize:
-- Nam Jeong-keun & Nam Seo-jeong (Son Young-hee's poems)

Judges:
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University),
-- Dafna Zur (associate professor, Stanford University), and
-- Janet Hong (translator and writer based in Vancouver).

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[2023]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Nohé Yeon (Kim Ji-yeon’s “SAKUTEIKI”)

Commendation Award in fiction:
-- Sunnie Chae (Park Seon-woo’s “We in the Same Place”)

Commendation Award in poetry:
-- Levi Lee (Hwang In-chan’s poems)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor at Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor at Seoul National University).

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[2022]

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Gene Png (Jeong Han-ah's poems)

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Graham Hand (Kim Ae-ran's "The Beginning of Winter”)

Commendation Award in fiction:
-- Giulia Macri (Chung Se-rang's “The Forty-Four Lives of a Wedding Dress")

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (associate professor in the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor of English, Seoul National University).
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[2021]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Youngjae Josephine Bae (Park Hyoung-su's “The Tall Dwarf”)

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Joanne Park (Yu Hyoung-jin's poems)

Commendation Award in fiction:
-- Clare Richards (Kim Keum-hee's “Half of His Egg Muffin”)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University) and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2020]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Hannah Quinn Hertzog (Kim Un-su's "Jab”)

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Mattho Mandersloot (Choi Jeong-rye's poems)

Commendation Award in poetry:
-- Hedgie Choi (Moon Bo-young's poems)

Commendation Award in fiction:
-- Rina Kim (Kwon Yeo-sun's "The Aunt”)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2019]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Leo-Thomas Brylowski (Lee Ki-ho's “Choe Mijin, Where Have You Gone?”)

Commendation Awards in fiction:
-- Grace Payer (Kim Sagwa's “Burial”)
-- Jasmine Jeemin Lee (Kim Se-hee's “Still Days”)

Commendation Award in poetry:
-- Yoo Ji-young & Clarque Brown (Poems of Heo Yeon)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2018]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Kim Seol-kyung (Kim Ae-ran's "A Covering Hand")

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Yang Eun-mi & Ed Bok Lee (Poems of Kim Ki-taek)

Commendation Award in fiction:
-- Sean Lin Halbert (Kim Ae-ran's "The Other Side")

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2017]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Sarah Lyo (Park Sol-moe's "Then What Do We Sing")

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Charse Yun (Poems of Ham Min-bok)

Commendation Award:
-- Olan Munson & Oh Eun-kyung (Choi Eun-young's "Xin chao, Xin chao")

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University)

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[2016]

Grand Prize:
-- none (!)

Commendation Awards:
-- Stella Kim (Choi Jeong-hwas "Denture"),
-- Steven D. Capener (Kim Young-has "Oppa Came Back"), and
-- Kim You-jeong & Amy Russ (Hwang Jeong-euns "Where No One Had Ever Been")

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2015]

Grand Prize:
-- Sophie Bowman (Poems by Jin Eun-young)

Commendation Awards:
-- Slin Jung (“More Than Half of Haruo”);
-- Helen Cho (“The Old Diary”); and
-- Christine Kwon and Park Chul-hwan (“Left-handed Woman”)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2014]

Grand Prize:
-- Kim Jin-ah & Seth Chandler (“On Slowness”)

Commendation Awards:
-- Amber Hyun Jung Kim (“Nana Before Dawn”);
-- Fred Bottley & Jeong Mi-gyeong (“Monsoon”);
-- Kim Sun-kyoung (Poems by Choi Seung-ja)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University);
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2013]

Grand Prize:
-- Agnel Joseph (“A Report to an Academy”)

Commendation Awards:
-- Andrew James Keast & Chang Chung-hwa (“By Motor-Home to Ulan Bator”)
-- Andrew Krebsbach (“Downpour”)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

From judges' report for 2013:

"[W]e received many poetry translations this year [but] almost without exception they had clearly been submitted by Korean translators whose knowledge of English was too limited; in many cases the English grammar was poor. ...[W]e soon decided that no poetry award could be given."

"In general, the fiction translations were competent but there were not many we read with real pleasure. This was in part the fault of the translator who had failed to create a convincing English style and in part the fault of the author whose work did not lend itself to translation. Where the translation itself was reasonably accurate, often the English text failed to find a compelling rhythm and flow."

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[2012]

Grand Prize winner:
-- Eugene Larsen-Hallock (“The Cold”)

Commendation Awards winners:
-- Kim Hye-jin in fiction (“Liver and Gallbladder”)
-- Jeong Mi-gyeong & Frederick Ronald Bottley (“The Sewoon Shopping Mall Kid’s Love”)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun ( professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung, (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2011]

Grand Prize winner:
-- Jung Ye-won (“A Way of Remembrance”)

Commendation Award winners:
-- Koh Hyo-jin (“Rivers and Mountains Without End),
-- Charse Yun (“Rivers and Mountains Without End”), and
-- Patricia Park (“Hole”)

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2010]

Grand Prize winner:
-- Brendan MacHale & Kim Yoon-kyung (Jeong Ji-ah’s “Spring Afternoon: Three Widows”)

Commendation Award winners:
-- Jamie Chang (Koo Byung-mo’s “Wizard Bakery”);
-- Kim Ha-na & John Mokrynskyj (Kwon Cheon-hak’s “Silvery Fish Caught in a Net”);
-- Roh Young-ju & Andrew McCullough (Hwang In-suk’s poem “Walk”).

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University, and
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor, Ewha Womans University).

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[2009]

Grand Prize in fiction:
-- Irene Park (Yoon Sung-hee's "Possibly")

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Song Chae-pyong & Anne Rashid (Kim Hye-soon's "A Sand Woman")

Commendation Award for fiction:
-- Jessica Conte & Han Hae-min (Jeon Gyeong-rin's "An Angel Stays Here"), and
-- Andrew McCullough (Park Wan-suh's "Ode for Longing")

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor emeritus, Sogang University),
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University, and
-- Jung Ha-yun (professor at Ewha Womans University).

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[2008]

Grand prize for fiction:
-- Mabelle Moon (Han Kang's "The Mongolian Mark")

Grand Prize for poetry:
-- Chung Jae-won & Frances Justine Post (Gi Hyeong-do's "Dog Caught in My Flashlight," "Sickness," "Empty House")

Commendation Award
-- Peter Lee, poetry (Jeong Ggeut-byeol's "Magnificent Sleep"); and
-- Lee You-jin, novel (Kim Do-eon's "Boy Meets Girl")

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor, Sogang University), and
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University.

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[2007]

Grand prize for fiction:
-- John Hak-sung Cha (Mun Hyung-ryul's "Bicycling Over the Ocean")

Grand prize for poetry:
-- Yoon Chae-eun & William Morley (Ko Jae-jong's "Splendor")

Commendation Award:
-- Jae-won Edward Chung, fiction (Hwang Jung-eun's "The Door")
-- Blair Lee, fiction (Kim Jung-hyuk's "Eskimo, This Is the End"

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor, Sogang University),
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2006]

Grand prize for fiction:
-- Jenny Wang Medina (Choe Yun's "Mannequin")

Grand prize for poetry:
-- The U.S. Defense Language Institute (DLI) at Monterey, California (poems by Chang Chong-il)

Commendation Award:
-- Kari Schenk & Kang Nam-sook (Lee Oi-soo's "We Will Meet Again Someday")

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor, Sogang University),
-- Min Eun-kyung (professor, Seoul National University).

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[2005]

Grand Prize in poetry:
-- Sora Kim-Russell (poems by Ye Hyun-yun).

Commendation Awards:
-- Steven D. Capener (poems by Chung Hyeon-jeong),
-- Moon Jeong-il (Shin Kyong-suk's "The Train Leaves at Seven"),
-- Jang I-jin & Grant Surridge (Yi Hye-gyoung's "City Light"), and
-- Chun Young-jin (Cho Chang-in's "The Lighthouse Keeper").

Judges:
-- Brother Anthony (professor, Sogang University),
-- Kim Myong-ryol (professor, Seoul National Univ).

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A few others:

Prolific translator Bruce Fulton won in the 1980s, around the start of his translating career. (He recently released, as editor, the well-received Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories .) The Korea Times contest jump-started Fulton's career almost 40 years ago; he remains active today.

Brother Anthony's career as a translator had already begun when, in 1991, he won the Grand Prize in poetry. (It was for the poem "Headmaster Abe" by Ko Un.) Almost every year between 1996 and 2023, he was asked to be a judge for the contest.

Former RASKB vice-president Suzanne Crowder won a commendation award for fiction in 1982.

And many other familiar names, and works, back to the 1970s.

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[Peter]

:

I submitted an entry for the 2025 translation contest. I think I am happy with it but there is no way to know if it has any chance of winning any of the prizes.

Several regulars at this Korean Literature Club has mentioned they'd planned to translate and submit something, but I didn't with certainty whether any did.

A good literary translation, I think, can range from "moderately hard" to near-"impossible" (impossibly hard). Not to toss some approximations of a bunch of words at people, but to grapple with the literary significance and things, understand it, and convey them into the new language to a new-language audience.

The project I've completed and submitted was at once humbling and rewarding to go through, a long slog from start to end. To even begin to approach a literary translation, you have to become an expert in the source text in a literary sense, in addition to much background knowledge. (That's if you're doing it right, anyway. Korean-->English translations had a long, long reputation for poor quality all through the decades, even roughly holding with such reputation into the 2010s more than a little, I think.)