[KS] Ko Un poetry reading (29 April, 7-8.30pm) at the Korean Cultural Centre, London

[Grace Koh]

Dear Korean Studies List Members,

 

Ko Un, one of Korea’s most prominent living poets, will be giving his first ever UK poetry reading at the Korean Cultural Centre, London on Tuesday, 29 April at 7.00-8.30pm. Details of the event and about Ko Un and his poetry are attached below and as a Word document.

 

“It is very striking to see the kind of tuning fork [Ko Un] has been, re-inventing himself in every decade through the turns in Korea’s postwar political and social history. In his early work, it’s my impression that he was writing in some version of the received tradition of Korean nature lyric with symbolist overtones, touched by the Korean folk tradition, touched by Son Buddhism, which, compared to the sense of refinement in Zen Buddhist poetry, seems earthy and intellectually tough. …Ko Un is a remarkable poet and one of the heroes of human freedom in this half-century.”  -Robert Hass (2008 Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry)

 

※ Please note that advance booking is required for this event. For booking and general enquiries about the event, please contact the Korean Cultural Centre, London:※

E-mail: info at kccuk.org.uk 

Tel: 020 7004 2600

 

 

 

Event:                  The Poet Ko Un – Poetry Reading

Date & Time:      29 April 2008 (Tue), 19:00-20:30

Venue:                 Multipurpose Hall

 

 

“Ko Un is a demon-driven Bodhisattva of Korean poetry, exuberant, abundant, obsessed with poetic creation...a magnificent poet, combined of Buddhist cognoscente, passionate political libertarian, and natural historian.”

- US poet Allen Ginsberg

 

“Ko Un is not only a major spokesperson for all of Korean culture, but a voice for Planet Earth Watershed as well...Because of their purity, their nervy clarity, and their heart of compassion, his poems are not only Korean —they belong to the world.”

- US Poet Gary Snyder

 

 

Between April 25th and 30th, the most internationally talked-about and representative Korean poet, Ko Un will be visiting the UK, and will be giving his first ever UK poetry reading at the Korean Cultural Centre, London.

 

This poetry reading, as the Cultural Centre’s first literary event, is intended to introduce Korean literature into the UK literary world and open the door for literary exchange.

 

At this poetry reading, Ko Un will, in person, read a selection of poems from certain of his anthologies, with a Question & Answer and autograph session afterwards, with real-time translation.

 

Ko Un, who took the stage in 1958, has published over 130 books of poems, short stories/novels, essays, commentaries, and other works, and his works have been translated into 16 languages, including English, French, German and Spanish.

 

With endless imagination and the soul of a poet, Ko Un has gained the attention of the world of poetry and is even now being invited to famous poetry and literature events, and is spreading knowledge of Korean literature to the world.

 

 

A Poet’s Heart ( – Si-in-ŭi Ma-ŭm)

 

A poet is born in a chink of crimes,

larceny, murder, fraud, or violence,

in some obscure corner of the world.

 

First the poet’s words go creeping

into chinks in harsh cursing’s foulest oaths

heard in a city’s poorest roughest slums,

and for a time dominate society.

 

Then the poet’s heart fashions a single cry

out of all today’s truths as they come seeping

through chinks in the evil and lies,

and gets beaten to death by other hearts.

 

A poet’s heart is doomed, that’s sure.

 

 

※ Advance booking required. For booking enquiries, please use the following details: ※

E-mail: info at kccuk.org.uk

Tel: 020 7004 2600

 

 

 

 

Ko Un – a brief history

 

1933                   Ko Un was born in Kunsan, Chollabuk-do

1958                   Poems ‘A spring night’s speech’, ‘Snowy Road’, ‘The Grace of Heaven’ published in Hyundae Munhak (Contemporary Literature)

1960                   Publication of Ko Un’s 130th work; the poetry anthology “Other World Sensibility”

1983                   “The complete works of Ko Un” books 1 and 2 published.

>From 1986          First episode of the “Ten Thousand Lives” Serial-novel published

1987~1994         “Paekdu Mountain” Serial-novel episodes 1-7 published

1998                   Poetry anthology “Whisper” published

1999                   Poetry anthology “Far, Far Journey: an epic” published

2002                   Selected poem anthologies “A wind”, “Complete Ko Un“ (part 38) published

 

Ko Un has received over 10 Korean prizes for his work, including the third Manhae Prize in Literature, the first Daesan Prize for Literature, and the Joong-Ang literary award as well as international awards such as Norway’s Bjornson Order for Literature and Canada’s Griffin Poetry Prize. He was also a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute and UC Berkley. He is currently a professor at Seoul National University, and has been entered in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

 

His homepage is  <http://www.koun.co.kr/> http://www.koun.co.kr.

 

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