Daesan unveils grant winners in translation

Daesan Foundation said yesterday it has chosen 13 translation projects that will receive the Korean literature translation grants and selected nine Korean writers as recipients of the Creative Writing Fund.

The translation grants, totaling 195 million won, will go to 22 translators who applied either as individuals or as teams in the four language categories of English, French, German and Spanish.

"Unlike previous years, many of the finalists have decided to translate the works of well-known Korean writers such as Ko Un, Hwang Sok-yong and Jo Jung-rae," Daesan said in a statement. "Given that such leading writers have already seen their work translated into major languages, it is unusual that finalists have chosen to work on the familiar names this year."

The winners of the grants have opted for not only top-notch writers with years of experiences under their belts but also their representative novels such as Seo Jung-in's "Dalgung," Hwang Sok-yong's "Baridaegi," Jo Jung-rae's "Oh My Lord."

But the jury of the Daesan's translation grants struck a balance by giving the financial support to those who want to tackle younger generation writers, including Kim Young-ha's "Empire of Light" and Lee In-hwa's "Eternal Empire."

In fact, most of the grant winners are familiar names to the Korean literature translation circles: Kim Jun-ja, Kim Ji-young, Bruce Fulton in English; Choi Mi-kyung and Cho Hye-young in French; Helga Picht in German; and Ko Hye-sun in Spanish.

In particular, Kim Ji-young is known for her translation of Kim Young-ha's "I Have the Right to Destroy Myself," which was published by Harcourt, a U.S.-based publishing house. Kim's new translation is also set to be published by Harcourt. Bruce Fulton, professor of University of British Columbia who teaches Korean studies, is also regarded as a leading translator. Helga Picht is also a renowned translator who previously completed the massive project of Park Kyung-ni's "The Land."

Notable among the recipients of the Creative Writing Fund are Kim Yoon-young, a novelist who has already secured a strong following here with her witty novels such as "Tarzan," and Lee Kyung-soo, who stands out with a unique perspective in the field of Korean poetry criticism.

Up until last year, Daesan allowed the Creative Writing Fund recipients to select a publisher, but it is now exploring a new system in which their work will be published by a single major publisher in a bid to offer more effective channels to fledgling writers.

A grant-awarding ceremony will be held at the Auditorium of the 10th floor of the Kyobo Building at 4 p.m. on Sept. 10.