Literature from the Land
of the Morning Calm

Radio Sketches devoted to the
poets and writers of the
Korean peninsula


Kim Chiha


Featured music:
“Sori naeryŏk [The story of a sound],” Kim Chiha ch’angjak P’ansori 1: Sol Publishing.

“Woodo-kut,” Samul-nori: Drums and Voices of Korea: Oasis Record Co., Seoul. Available here at Amazon.

Featured literature:
"Sori naeryŏk [The story of a sound]" in The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry edited by David R. McCann. Available here through Colombia University Press.

Other translations of Kim Chiha’s work:
Heart's Agony: Selected Poems of Chiha Kim translated by Won-Chun Kim and James Han. Available here at White Pine Press.


Kim Suyŏng


Featured music:
Chi Aeri and Hwang Byungki, “Tchalbŭn sanjo II: tanmori,” Short Kayagŭm Sanjo Collection of Chong Nam-hui (Sem Gramaphone).

Hwang Byungki, “Harim Castle,” Spring Snow: Byungki Hwang Kayagŭm Masterpieces Vol. 4 (C&L Music Inc., 2001). Avaiblabe here at annyoung.com.

Hwang Byungki, “Soyop-sanbang: ŏtmori,” Spring Snow: Byungki Hwang Kayagŭm Masterpieces Vol. 4 (C&L Music Inc., 2001). Avaiblabe here at annyoung.com.

Featured literature:
Kim Suyong, “P’ul [Grasses]” translated by Young-Jun Lee

Kim Suyong, “Miin [A beauty]” translated by Young-Jun Lee

Collections which include translations of Kim Suyŏng’s poetry:

David R. McCann ed., The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004).

Kim Su-Young, Shin Kyong-Nim, Lee Si-Young, Variations: Three Korean Poets, translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé and Young-Moo Kim (Ithaca, New York: East Asia Program Cornell University, 2001). Available here at Amazon.

Kevin O’Rourke, Looking for the Cow: Modern Korean Poems (Dublin: The Dedalus Press, 1999). Available here at Amazon.


Ko Un


Featured music:
“Youngnam Nong-ak,” Samul-Nori: Drums and Voices of Korea (Oasis Record Co., 2001). Available here at Amazon.

“Pumba [Beggar’s song],” Pumba (Yedang Entertainment Company, 2001). A 2001 recording Kim Si-ra’s long running theatrical production. Available here at Yesasia.com.

Featured literature:
Ko Un, “Into the Woods” and “Small Songs,” Traveler Maps: Poems by Ko Un, translated by David R. McCann (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Tamal Vista Publications, 2004). Available here from from Tamal Vista Publications and here from the University of Hawaii Press.

Ko Un, “Runny,” The Sound of My Waves: Selected Poems of Ko Un, translated Brother Anthony of Taizé and Young-Moo Kim (Ithica: Cornell East Asia Series, 1996). Available here from Amazon.

Both a short and a long biography of Ko Un in English are featured at Brother Anthony's site, as well as some of the poems he translated for The Sound of My Waves.


Lee Ho-Chul


Featured music:
Sate Merited Chorus of the Korean People, “Nae kohyang ŭi chŏngdŭn chip [Home sweet home in my hometown].” Found here (Korean site).

Wangjaesan Light Music Band, “Haengbokhan nae nara [My happy country].” Found here (Korean site).

Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble, “Haetpit palgŭn nae nara [My bright sunny country].” Found here (Korean site).

Hanullim Art Troupe, “Ah-he-hŏ (samulnori),” Kkum ŭn iruŏ chinda: Red Devil pulgŭn angma kongsik ŭngwŏn aelbŏm [Realizing the dream: Red devil official cheers] (Mihwadang rekodu, 2002). Album information found here (Korean site).

Featured literature:
Lee Ho-Chul, “Panmunjom,” Panmunjom and Other Stories by Lee Ho-Chul (Norwalk, Connecticut: Eastbridge Signature Books, 2005).Available here from Eastbridge Books.

A brief biography and other information as it pertained to a reading Lee Ho-Chul gave at U.C. Berkeley in 2004 can be found here.


Maech'ang


Featured music:
David N. Childs, “I’m Not Yours,” text by Sara Teasdale and performed by the Wellesley College Choir. Sharon Lee accompanist. Recorded at Houghton Chapel, Wellesley College, April 9, 2005.

Lee Sŏng ch’ŏn, “Sori ŭi t’ansaeng 4 [The birth of sound 4],” Kŏmungo angsangbŭl yŏnju chip [A collection of kŏmungo performance ensembles] (KBS, 2003). Available here at bugs music (Korean site).

Yŏn Chu-ja, “Pihyŏn, ŏtmori,” Kŏmungo taljae hak nalgo [When the kŏmungo is played cranes fly] (Seoul, 2004).

Featured literature:
“The Drunk Guest,” “Sitting at Night,” and “The Swing,” Maech’ang chip [Collected works of Maech’ang], translated by Wayne de Fremery.


Sŏ Chŏngju


Featured music:
Kim Duk Soo, “Tot tan pae [Sailboat],” Kim Duk Soo with his Friends (Samsung Music, 1997). Available here at bugs music (Korean site).

Hwang Byungki, “Migung [Labyrinth],” Hwang Pyŏnggi kayagŭm chakpum chip [Hwang Byungki kayagŭm works] (C&L Music, 1993).

Featured literature:
“Winter Sky,” translated by David McCann in David McCann ed., The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004). Available here at Amazon.

“April 19, 1960,” Unforgettable Things: Poems by Sŏ Chŏngju, translated by David McCann (Seoul: Si-sa-yong-o-sa, Inc., 1986).

“Flower Snake,” translated by Wayne de Fremery from Sŏ Chŏngju chŏnjip, [Complete Works of Sŏ Chŏngju] (Seoul: Minŭmsa, 1994).

Other collections of Sŏ Chŏngju’s work in English
The Early Lyrics, 1941-1960: Poems By So Chong Ju, translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé (Seoul: DapGae Books, 1996). Available here at Amazon.

Selected Poems of Sŏ Chŏngju, translated with an introduction by David McCann (New York: Columbia University Press, 1989). Available here at Amazon.

Poems of a Wanderer, translated by Kevin O’Rourke, Dublin: Daedalus Publishing Company, 1995). Available here at Amazon.


Song Ch'an-ho


Featured music:
Hwang Byungki, “Soyŏpsanbang [Sweeping leaves in the mountains] (adagio)” and “Ch’unsŏl [Spring snow] (humorously),” Spring Snow: Byungki Hwang Kayagŭm Masterpieces Vol. 4 (C&L Music, 2001). Avaiblabe here at annyoung.com.

Featured literature:

“The Sacrifice” and “A New Bell for the Great Camellia King” translated by Wayne de Fremery from Pulgŭn nun, tongbaek [Red eyes, camellias], (Seoul: Moonji Publishing Co. Ltd., 2001).


Oh Sae-Young


Featured music:
Kŭrim, “Pi munŭn param [Wind on the rain],” Morning Scenery (Yedangaak, 2002). Available here at Seoul Selection.

George Winston, “Arirang,” Plains (Windham Hill Records, 1999). Avaibable here at Amazon.

Featured Literature:
“Dish,” “Outside the Gate,” and “Mindlessly,” Flowers Long for Stars: Poems by Oh Sae-Young, translated by Clare You and Richard Silberg (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Tamal Vista Publications, 2005). Available here at Tamal Vista Publications.