By Honorary Reporter Livia Jade Bishop from UK
Photos = Livia Jade Bishop

Over the past 12 weeks, I've had the amazing opportunity to participate in a workshop on translation of Korean literature sponsored by LTI (Literature Translation Institute) of Korea at my home university in Preston, England. As an undergraduate majoring in English literature and Korean, I took part to not only expand my language knowledge but also further my passion for Korean literature and develop professional skills. 

Fifteen students were selected for the program, and during the workshop, we worked under the close supervision of two Korean professors to translate a poetry anthology by Lee Won-ha from Korean to English. 

LTI Korea was launched in 2001 to promote Korean literary and cultural works overseas. The government-run institute provides financial support, training, internships and grants to aspiring literary translators both Korean and foreign. 

Over the project period, the participants translated poems from Lee Won-ha’s anthology "I Live Alone in Jeju and Don't Drink Well" (unofficial translation) These poems on the writer's life on Jeju Island focuses on key emotions such as love, loneliness and melancholy and display highly metaphorical language, vividly depicting these difficult emotions through Lee's highly personal and beautiful writing style. This makes the translation nothing short of difficult, but is also why the anthology is so compelling and wonderful to read. 

This is a copy of the poetry anthology by Lee Won-ha that the project is translating.

I tried my hand at Korean calligraphy thanks to this project, creating postcards and bookmarks from my favorite lines in the anthology. I was surprised at how Korean calligraphy is so different from that of English, and while not a natural, I enjoyed creating something for use in the translated anthology.

I also learned a lot about the translation industry and gained professional skills for my career. I was first taught about tools for translation and how to use them. 

The top photo shows Korean calligraphy and the bottom stickers and a business card from a film screening. 

Overall I find this project highly educational and enjoyable and thank LTI Korea for offering students the opportunity to advance their professional development. Because it was my first attempt at literary translation, I encountered many difficulties as certain words and phrases just seemed untranslatable from Korean. Yet my course mates and professors helped me overcome these issues to ultimately produce a final English-language translation.