Translating Korean Literature Workshop and Lecture

Special Event 
Department of Comparative Literature, co-sponsored by the Korea Institute and Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University
 

Anton Hur, Translator and Author

Anton Hur has translated over twenty-two books between Korean and English, including Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny (shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize) and Sang Young Park’s Love in the Big City (longlisted in the same year), as well as writing by Shin Kyung-sook, Ocean Vuong, Kim Hyesoon, and Hwang Sok-yong. He is also author of the novel Toward Eternity (2024, in English) and the essay collection Didn’t I Tell You Not to Do That? (2023, in Korean). Hur has taught by invitation at institutions including the British Centre for Literary Translation, Bread Loaf, and Yonsei and Ewha Universities, and has received grants from the PEN/Heim Translation Fund and the Daesan Foundation, among others.

How to Pitch Translations to Publishers: A Workshop
Date: April 9, 2025
Time: 2PM - 3:30PM
Location(In-Person): Seminar Room (S153)

Anton Hur will share his many experiences with the process of proposing literary translations to publishers and other figures in the book industry with undergraduate students and graduate students. Q&A will follow a presentation.

Translating Korean Literature Lecture
Date: April 10, 2025
Time: 4:30PM - 6:00PM
Location: Thomas Chan-Soo Kang Room (S050)
*To attend this event online, please register here.

Chaired by Spencer Lee-Lenfield, Postdoctoral Fellow in Comparative Literature, Harvard University

Abstract:
How does one of the most distinguished Korean translators of our time think through the process of moving literature from one language into another? Anton Hur—whose translations of authors including Bora Chung, Sang Young Park, Kyung-sook Shin, and BTS have been nominated for the National Book Award, the International Booker Prize—will reflect on his path into literary translation and the craft of translation. Hur’s work has breathed fresh air into the stylistic handling of Korean in English; his translations are playful, slangy, exciting, and inventive, and range from historically significant writers such as Kang Kyeong-ae and Pak Kyung-ni to BTS’s group memoir Beyond the Story. This talk will form the cornerstone of a forthcoming book project on the art and craft of translation.

Generously supported by the Sunshik Min Endowment Fund for the Advancement of Korean Literature at the Korea Institute, Harvard University