Congratulations to Suh Ji-moon

Suh Ji-moon (Middle) and Other Winners

Winners of 12th Korean Literature Translation Award
Mahmoud Abdel Ghaffar and Cho Hee-sun on Left
Suh Ji-moon in Middle
Im Yun-jung and Maria Kuznetsova on Right
Photo: LTI Korea

My literary friend from my Korea University days, Professor Suh Ji-moon, received a prize for her translation of Kim Won-il's book House with a Sunken Courtyard, as reported by Ahn Sung-mi in "Translation award honors Suh Ji-moon" (Korea Herald, November 18, 2014):

When emeritus professor Suh Ji-moon first began translating Korean literature into English in the 1970s, she used to write by hand or use a typewriter, which required writing and retyping over and over again before submission.

Though times have changed, the prominent Korean scholar with a 40-year career in teaching, research and literary translation still admits that translating is difficult, often accompanied by frustration and distress. Yet, it is a fulfilling experience, just like a time-consuming and strenuous search for hidden jewelry.

Now, the 66-year-old scholar has received an award for her efforts. On Monday, Suh won the top prize at the 12th annual Korean Literature Translation Awards for translating Kim Won-il's "House with a Sunken Courtyard" into English. The award is given by Korea’s state-run Literature Translation Institute of Korea.

Ji-moon actually allowed me to take a look at the translation in manuscript, and I could already see its very high literary quality rendered in her excellent translation - plus, the story was enthralling! I encourage everyone to read it!

Moreover, she worked upon the translation at a difficult time of her life, as the article relates, so for acess to the entire article, which gives more details, click here.