“An award-winning Korean-to-English powerhouse”—Booklist
“The Sailor Moon of translation”—HarperVia
Books
- Toward Eternity (HarperVia, 2024)
- 하지 말라고는 안 했잖아요? (어크로스, 2023)
Book translations
- That Summer’s End by Lee Seong-bok (Knopf, 2026)
- The Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung (Algonquin, Dialogue, 2025)
- Red Sword by Bora Chung (Honford Star, 2025)
- Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-il Kim (Tor, 2024)
- I Want to Die but I Still Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee (Bloomsbury, 2024)
- A Magic Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon (HarperVia, 2024)
- Your Utopia by Bora Chung (Honford Star, Algonquin, 2024)
- Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS by BTS and Myeongseok Kang (Flatiron, 2023)
- Indeterminate Inflorescence by Lee Seong-bok (Sublunary Editions, 2023)
- Counterweight by Djuna (Pantheon, 2023)
- I Went to See My Father by Kyung-Sook Shin (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Astra House, 2023)
- Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong (Moonji Books, 2022)
- I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee (Bloomsbury UK/US, 2022)
- Violets by Kyung-Sook Shin (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Feminist Press, 2022)
- Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park (Grove, Tilted Axis, 2021)
- Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (Honford Star, 2021)
- The Prisoner by Hwang Sok-yong (Verso, Penguin Random House US, 2021)
- The Underground Village by Kang Kyeong-ae (Honford Star, 2018)
- The Court Dancer by Kyung-Sook Shin (Pegasus Books, 2018)
Anthologies
- Iyagi: “Knockoff V*agra and Jeje, a Short Joke on Piss that Doesn’t Pool Anywhere” by Sang Young Park, “Take My Voice” by Serang Chung (Strangers Press, 2023)
- Violent Phenomena: 21 Essays on Translation: “The Mythical English Reader” (Tilted Axis, 2022)
- All Walls Collapse: “What the Cat Passed On” by Kyung-Sook Shin (Comma Press X English PEN, 2022)
- The Age of Doubt: “The Age of Doubt” by Pak Kyongni (Honford Star, 2022)
- International LGBTQ+ Literature for Children and Young Adults: “Boys Who Wear Dresses: Queer Narrative Strategies in Korean Children’s Literature” (Anthem, 2021)
- The Valancourt Book of World Horror Vol. 2: “Masks” by Bora Chung (Valancourt, 2021)
Writing
- The Great White Canceling
- I Want to Die but I Want to Translate Korean Literature: Why Translation Matters Just as Much as Eating Tteokbokki
- To All the Gays of Seoul: On Translating Sang Young Park
- Escape from America
- Fictional Notes toward an Essay in Translation
- What Translators Mean When We Talk about Reading
- Missing
- Was (poem)
- How to Write Queer Korean Lit: A Manual
- The Emerging Literary Translator Valley of Death
- From the Translator: A Lunar Sorority
- Making Pitches Work in Literary Translation
- On writing:
- 24 March 2020
Other translations
- Samovar : “The Head” by Bora Chung
- Words Without Borders : “Genesis” by Jeon Sam-hye, “The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta” by Sang Young Park, “About My Daughter” by Kim Hye-jin, guest editor for 2019 feature on queer Korean literature
- The Guardian : Kyung-Sook Shin for “Seven novelists from around the world living with the pandemic”
- Asymptote Journal : “Aficionados” by Jung Young Su
- The Offing : “The Embodiment” by Bora Chung
- Chogwa: “The Snail” by Jin Eun-Young and others
- Modern Poetry in Translation : Chogwa revisions issue
- Anomaly : “A Spell to Invoke the White Dolphin” by Jeon Sam-hye
- Columbia Journal : “Nights in Lebanon” by Jung Young Su
- Westerly Magazine : Poetry by Shim Bo-seon and others
- Slice Magazine : Exquisite corpse project by Jeon Sam-hye
- Queen Mob’s Tea House : “The Joy of Music” by Jung Young Su
- Korean Literature Now : Poetry by Kim Un and others
Grants and Awards
- Finalist for the 2023 National Book Award
- Longlisted for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award
- Longlisted for the 2023 and 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award Barrios Prize
- Shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize
- Double-longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize
- Finalist for the 2023 Firecracker Award
- PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant (2020)
- PEN Translates award (2017)
- Yumin Award for Contribution to the Arts
- Daesan Foundation literary translation grant (2017)
- GKL Korean Literature Translation Award (2018)
- Multiple grants from the Literary Translation Institute of Korea
- Multiple grants from the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea
- Multiple grants from Arts Council Korea
- Translator-in-residence at the National Centre for Writing, UK
- Translator-in-residence at Queen’s College Translation Exchange, University of Oxford
Taught at
- British Centre for Literary Translation
- Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference
- National Centre for Writing Literary Translation Mentorship (mentees: Clare Richards, Shanna Tan, Gene Png)
- Catapult
- Yonsei University Department of Korean Language and Literature
- Literary Translation Institute of Korea
- Ewha University Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation
- Seoul National University College English Program
Other
- Judge for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award
- Judge for the 2021 National Translation Award for Prose
- Member of the Author’s Guild (US)
- Member of English PEN and PEN America
- Co-founder of the Null Subjects Collective
- Manages Korean literary translation group Smoking Tigers
- Korean literature critic on KBS World Radio’s Korea 24 (2020-2022)
- Korean literature critic on TBS eFM’s The Bookend (2015-2017)
Education
- MA (English), Seoul National University (under Dr. Nancy Jiwon Cho)
- LLB, Korea University College of Law
- BA (Psychology), Korea University
- BA (French), Korea National Open University
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