Ko Un (born on 1 August 1933) is a South Korean poet whose works have been translated and published in more than 15 countries. He had been imprisoned many times due to his role in the campaign for Korean democracy. Ko is routinely mentioned in Korea as one of the front runners for the Nobel Prize in Literature,
Life
Ko was born Ko Untae in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province in 1933. He was studying at Gunsan Middle School when the Korean War broke out in 1950.
The Korean War traumatized Ko emotionally and physically and caused the death of many of his relatives and friends. During an acute crisis in this period, Ko Un pured acid into his ear leading to hearing impairment, which was further aggravated when he was beat up by police in 1979. In 1952, before the war ended, Ko became a Buddhist monk. After a decade of monastic life, he chose to return to the active, secular world in 1962 to become a devoted poet. From 1963 to 1966 he lived on Jejudo, where he set up a charity school, and then moved back to Seoul. However, he was not at peace and wound up attempting suicide (a second time) in 1970.
Around the time the South Korean government attempted to curb democracy by putting forward the Yusin Constitution in late 1972, Ko became very active in the democracy movement and led efforts to improve the political situation in South Korea, while still writing prolifically. He was sent to prison four times (1974, 1979, 1980 and 1989). In May 1980, during the coup d'etat led by Chun Doo-hwan, Ko was accused of treason and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. He was released in August 1982 as part of a general pardon.
After his release, his life became calmer. However, he startled his large following by revising many of his previously published poems. Ko Un married Sang-Wha Lee on May 5, 1983, and moved to Anseong, Gyeonggi-do. He resumed writing and began travelling. His visits to different cities in each continent provided the fabric for his poetic tapestry. From 2007, he served as a visiting scholar in Seoul National University, where he gave lectures on poetry and literature. More recently, since 2010, he has been a Chair Professor of Dankook University, associated with the University's International Center for Creative Writing. Early in 2013, he was invited to stay for one semester and give several special lectures at the Ca’Foscari University of Venice, Italy, where he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship. On his return to Korea, he moved house from Ansong to a new home in Suwon to the South of Seoul.
In 2011, Ko was presented with a certificate proclaiming him an 'Honorary Islander' from Jeju-do.
On September 15, 2014, Ko Un was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Peace by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO at a ceremony in Seoul.
Publications
Ko began publishing in 1958. He has published approximately 155 volumes, including many volumes of poetry, several works of fiction (in particular, Buddhist fiction), autobiography, drama, essays, translations from classical Chinese, travel books and so on.
Translations
Portions of his work have been translated into English, often by Brother Anthony of Taize. His works have also been translated into Spanish (4-5 volumes), Italian, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Czech, Bulgarian, Swedish and Danish, etc.
- The Sound of My Waves (Selected Poems 1960-1990, Cornell EAS, 1991)
- "Morning Dew" (Selected Poems, Sidney: Paper Bark Press, Australia, 1996)
- Beyond Self (Parallax Press, 1996, now out of print, republished by Parallax in 2008 as "108 Zen Poems")
- Little Pilgrim (Parallax Press, 2005, a novel)
- Ten Thousand Lives with an introduction by Robert Hass (Green Integer, 2005)
- The Three Way Tavern (UC Press, 2006))
- Flowers of a Moment, 185 brief poems (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2006)
- Abiding Places, Korea North & South. Trans. Sunny Jung and Hillel Schwartz (Tupelo, 2006)
- Songs for Tomorrow: A Collection of Poems 1961-2001 (Green Integer, 2009)
- Himalaya Poems (Green Integer, 2010)
- First Person Sorrowful (Bloodaxe Books, 2012)
Literary Awards
- Korean Literature Prize (1974, 1987)
- Manhae Literary Prize (1989)
- Joongang Literary Prize (1992)
- Daesan Literary Prize (1993)
- Manhae Poetry Prize (1998)
- Eungwan Order of Culture Merit (2002)
- Danjae Prize (2004)
- Late Spring Unification Award (2005)
- Bjørnson Prize Order for Literature (2005)
- Cikada Prize (Swedish literary prize for East Asian poets) (2006)
- Yeongrang Poetry Prize (2007)
- Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award (2008)
- Republic of Korea Arts Award for Literature (2008)
- America Award (2011)
- Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings (2014)
- NordSud International Prize for literature (2014)
See also
- Korean literature
- Korean poetry
- List of Korean language poets
- Literature Translation Institute of Korea
References
External links
All of the following links lead to English language pages.
- Gimm-Young Publishers' extensive Ko Un website (requires Flash)
- [1] [2] Numerous links woven by his English-language co-translator Brother Anthony ]
- The iconic news photograph (Ko Un is in between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il) at unification summit)
- Ko Un's place in modern Korean poetry by Choi Won-shik
- Short overview of Ko and his style
- Writers from the Other Asia by John Feffer, from The Nation
- Brief introduction from a publisher
- Pointing Beyond Words, a biographical survey, by Gary Gach, from BuddhaDharma
- Microreview of Ten Thousand Lives (Maninbo) by Katie Peterson, from Boston Review
- Several poems from Ten Thousand Lives on Sogang University website
- Three more poems from Ten Thousand Lives plus a short bio, at Words Without Borders
- Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition tribute, including audio and video clips
- English: Official website
