By Honorary Reporter Elahe Safaei-Jazi from Iran

Photos = E.J. Koh and Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello

The Literature Translation Institute (LTI) of Korea promotes Korean literature abroad by promoting the translation of Korean-language works into other tongues. 

The LTI Korea Translation Awards honor outstanding translations of Korean literature. This year, the grand prize in Group 1 comprising translations to English, French, Spanish and German went to E.J. Koh and Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello for their English-language translation of Korean poet Yi Won's poetry collection "The World’s Lightest Motorcycle." In a written interview on Dec. 15, the two discussed their work and prize and Korean literature.

E.J. Koh and Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello are this year's winners of the LTI Korea Translation Award for Group 1.

Inspired by the works of renowned Korean American poet and translator Don Mee Choi, the two began collaborating with Yi to translate her poetry collection. 

In 2016, Choi began forming connections between Korean and Korean American female poets. "Her vision was to create a sisterhood of Korean American women translators," Cancio-Bello said, while hailing the uniqueness of Yi's poems. "There's nothing quite like Yi Won's poems in American poetry right now."

Koh recalled when she and Cancio-Bello met through the Kundiman Fellowship in New York, saying, "It was Don Mee Choi who sent Yi Won's poetry book to us." Kundiman is a national nonprofit group that fosters writers and readers of Asian American literature.

On the response to their work by international readers, Koh said she has a positive outlook on the impact of translated literature, adding, "The relationship between words grow with the relationships between human beings." 

Cancio-Bello also cited literary magazines that spotlighted their work, saying, "International readers have been very kind in supporting these poems. We're grateful to everyone who has read and supported our translations."

She also called their LTI award "an incredible honor," adding, "I admire Yi Won's work so much, and I also loved working with E.J., who was already a close friend. I am a transracial adoptee born in Korea and raised in America, so to receive this award for poetry translation here in Seoul on behalf of both of us meant even more to me."

Koh was unable to attend the awards ceremony in Seoul. She described Yi's poems as a teacher who gives students new perspectives. "Yi said, 'One more point of view is like having more eyes.' Her work and the honor of this award have given me more eyes—and her words have stayed with me deeply throughout this experience," she added.

Turning to Korean literature's global standing, the two referred to Yi's concept of "finding a common language in another language." Based on this belief, Koh said the future of Korean literature "resides in a place of compatibility and coexistence."

kalhong617@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.