Korean
Literature Night with Book Publication Ceremony・Seminar・Recitation
Wine and
Live Instrumental Music, Autumn Was in the Air
As autumn
colors fall, the “Korean Literature Night” took place in Tukwila at the Comfort
Suites Hotel on the 24th of October.
The event
was hosted by two literary societies from the greater Seattle area, comprised of a publication event by a veteran poet, a Korean
literature seminar, and recitations by local writers as well as guest
writers visiting from Korea.
Jean-Sun
Hannah Ahn, who was crowned Miss Seattle 2012, played ‘Arirang’ and ‘Time to
Say Goodbye’ on violin, and Dr. Yoon Seo played live music on guitar
during the recitations. Coupled with wine, there was no doubt the event
elevated the standard of the local literary scene, sure enough to be
called the ‘Korean Writer’s Festival’.
Dr. Seo
collaborated with the University of Washington and literary societies in
Seattle and invited various writers from the Korean community, including
poets Jae-Ong Yoon, Ok-Ran Jeon, and Tae-Jun Moon to organize the
event as this year marks the centennial of the birth of his father and famous
poet Jeong-Ju Seo. A total of 950 poems were compiled and published by Dr. Seo
earlier this year to commemorate the beloved poet, well known under the nom de
plume of Midang.
The
Consulate General of Korea in Seattle, Comfort Suites Hotel, Asiana Airlines,
The Korean Times and SeattleN were among the sponsoring organizations.
The opening
event of the night was a publication ceremony. Veteran poet Byuk-bong
Chung’s new anthology, <Ggotsap Deulda> or ‘Flower Shovel’, was
put together as a homage by local poets such as Soon-hae Kong, Yoon-sun
Kim, Bong-choon Jung and Chang-gook Moon.
Approaching
his 90s and currently residing in Olympia, Byuk-bong Chung was born in Nampo,
present day North Korea, under Japanese rule in 1927 and is a living witness of Korea's turbulent contemporary history, having experienced the Japanese
colonization, the Korean War, rapid industrialization and the Korean diaspora to
the United States. He debuted in 1956 with the piece <Jiyeol>, or
‘Terrestrial Heat’.
The
following event of the night was a lecture on ‘The Future of Poetic
Imagination’ by Tae-Jun Moon, one of Korea’s most well-known poets, who
explained how we all can become writers by introducing the steps to writing a
piece of poem, including the stages of the writer’s thoughts, observation, and
imagination.
Furthermore,
Moon introduced pieces of his writings that were influenced heavily by Midang,
whose work was also the source for his academic thesis during his doctoral
course in literature.
The
highlight of the night, however, was the recitation event. So-young Ji, head of
The Northwest Writers Association and Chang-hook Moon, vice-president of the Korean
Writer’s Association Washington State Chapter, moderated the recitation while
local writers recited their favorite poems.
Through the
recitation of some of Midang’s best work, poets Jae-Ong Yoon,
Ok-Ran Jeon and Tae-Jun Moon from Korea had the wonderful chance of interacting
with writers who are actively publishing their work overseas in the Korean
language.
Consul
General Duk-ho Moon of Seattle, who studied French literature and worked in
France for 5 years in the past, participated in the event and paid tribute to
the internationally known poet by reciting the official French translation of
<Pururun Nal>, or ‘A Sunny Day’.
Upon the
moderator’s request, Dr. Seo delivered an impromptu recitation of his father’s
work written during the poverty-stricken 1950s while he was a professor at
Chosun University in Gwangju, and received a large round of applause.
Lastly, the
participants sang an ensemble of Pururun Nal, which has also been
published as a popular song, as the final act to wrap up the Literature
Night with beautiful Korean words.
