Company History

Vision

Since the 1980s, many books of Korean poetry have been translated and published. However, few have been read outside of the Korean Studies community. Tamal Vista Publications aims to change this. With a long history of producing lasting, high-quality books, Tamal Vista will produce books that will have a meaningful impact on the broader literary audience for years to come by building in mechanisms that insure both faithful translation and that the translations are works of art in their own right.

The Korean Poetry Project

Tamal Vista will publish a series of translations in two parts that will consist of both chapbooks and full-length books of Korea poetry. More than just a place to find translations, these books will be a medium that makes the poetry in them alive and opens the world of Korean literature to English language audiences.

CHAPBOOKS: Tamal Vista plans to publish two chapbooks yearly. The first will feature the work of a prominent Korean writer and its publication will coincide with a visit by that poet to the U.S. The first chapbook of this kind will appear in February 2004 and will be a collection of poems by Ko Un, a South Korean writer likely to be considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature. The poems will be translated by Harvard Professor David McCann and publication will coincide with readings by Ko Un at Harvard University and the Folger Library in Washington D.C.

The theme and content of the second chapbook will be decided by an annual competition sponsored by Tamal Vista Publications. Applications will be screened by an editorial board of Korean scholars for accuracy and those deemed representative of the Korean originals will be passed on to an eminent English language poet who will judge the translations strictly on their power as works of literature in English.

FULL-LENGTH BOOKS: Manuscripts will be solicited by Tamal Vista and screened for accuracy in translation. At the editorial stage, well-known English language poets will be engaged to ensure that the translations are works of art in their own right. The first of these books will be Contradictory Dirt: Selected Poetry of Sae-Young Oh. Translated by Clare You and Richard Silberg, the book will appear near the end of 2004. The second will be Manhattan Seagull: Selected Poetry of Park Nam Soo, translated by Glen and Ok-Koo Kang Grosjean. It is slated to appear in the summer of 2005. A collection of poems by Pak Chae-sam translated by Jiwon Shin and David McCann will be published in the spring of 2006.

Company Background

Founded in 1976, Tamal Vista Publications is a family-run business with roots in the book printing and publishing industry that go back three generations. Tamal Vista has enjoyed an average gross margin of 71% on its five titles, the company's income/expense ratio over the last 7 years is nearly 2:1 and it operates debt-free. Since its first title came off the press nearly 30 years ago it has sold approximately 27,000 copies and continues to sell consistently. It's this commitment to sound business principals and the making of high quality books that find and inspire audiences long after they are first produced that has sustained Tamal Vista through these difficult times for small independent presses.

Tamal Vista's publications have always reflected the passions of the family members running the company. Founder Peter de Fremery brought together his knowledge of printing, gained while working for his father as a printers' representative, with a passion for woodworking and the outdoors to create Tamal Vista's original line of books on woodworking and boatbuilding. Now owned by his son Wayne de Fremery, Tamal Vista will reflect both the company's history and Wayne's passion for Korean poetry.

Principals

WAYNE DE FREMERY

Wayne has a B.A. in Economics and earned his Master's Degree from Seoul National University, producing a thesis on the poetry of Kim So-wŏl. He continues his study of Korean literature as a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard's East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department. Wayne will oversee and take part in acquisition, editorial, production, and distribution processes for the Korean poetry series.

DAVID MCCANN

David McCann is the Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Literature at Harvard University. David is editor and contributor to forthcoming The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry. His other publications include Early Korean Literature: Selections and Introductions, Columbia University Press, 2000; Korea Briefing: Toward Reunification, editor, The Asia Society and M. E. Sharpe, 1997; Selected Poems of Kim Namjo (with Hyunjae Yee Sallee), Cornell East Asia Series, 1993 and Selected Poems of Sŏ Chŏngju, Columbia University Press, 1989, among others. David will act as an editor for the Korean poetry series as well the translator for the first chapbook in the series by Ko Un. He will also be involved in acquisitions and the formation of the editorial board that will oversee the poetry project.

LEE YOUNG-JUN

Lee Young-Jun is a Ph.D. candidate in Harvard's East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department. Before beginning his studies in the United States, Young-Jun worked for ten years as a literary editor in Korea, including positions as a Senior Editor at Minumsa and Editor-in-chief at the literary quarterly Segye ui Munhak. He is currently in the process of finishing his dissertation on the Korean poet Kim Su-young. Young-Jun will contribute his vast knowledge of the Korean literary world to the project, as well as lend his experienced eye to production and distribution.

MILA STEELE

Currently employed as a production editor in London, Mila is pursuing her love of book-making and design. She holds a Master's degree in anthropology from Seoul National University and has extensive experience working with translation of Korean texts - both literary and academic. Mila will contribute to the editorial and production aspects of the Korean poetry project.