Bukchon: Poems of Shin Dal-Ja

Description

Bukchon: Poems of Shin Dal-Ja

 

Author: Shin Dal-Ja

Translator: Youngshil Cho

Order No. 1219

ISBN-13: 9781622461134

ISBN-10:  1622461134

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Homa & Sekey Books

Pub Year: 2023

Language: English

Size: 5.5 x 8.5

Page: 106

Price: $18.95. You pay only $11.37 (after 40% discount).

 

 

About the Book

 

A master of one liner, Shin Dal-Ja begins another remarkable volume of verse, Bukchon, with two one-liners, and no stanza break. Adopting this simple yet hard-to-master technique, she achieves uncommon concentration and musicality. The village called Bukchon is depicted as a regional utopia. Therein are multitudes of beautiful things: age-old trees, artwork traditional and modern, totally Korean-style houses and buildings, and most of all, lovable fellow citizens who breathe together the living past in present. This is the authentic identity of the poet and her village, ultimately of her country Korea. Shin’s verse is a pleasure to the eye, a transformative force to the mind. To top it all, her lyrical strength, with ample display of subtle wit, often shines beyond imagination.

 

About the Author

 

Shin Dal-Ja has published several poetry books including Ardent Love, Paper. For her elegant and gorgeous verse she was awarded the Gongcho Literary Award, the Jeong Jiyong Literary Award, and the Daesan Literary Award, among others. She served as the president of the Society of Korean Poets, and is a member of the National Academy of Arts.

 

About the Translator

 

A recipient of numerous grants for her English translation of modern Korean literature, Cho Young-Shil has translated seven contemporary poetry books including Paper by Shin Dal-Ja (Codhill Press, 2018) and Invisible Land of Love by Chonggi Mah (Homa & Sekey Books, 2022).

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Author’s Note / ix

 

Part I

 

A House Facing North / 3

Coolness / 4

Tree Fragrance of Hanok / 5

Autumn in Gyedong / 6

Footprints of Light / 7

Red Water / 8

The Moon of Gyedong / 9

Bogus Shoes / 10

Late Night / 11

My Village Bukchon / 12

Gongildang / 13

Sleep in Old Age / 14

Fire / 16

It Is No Mere Chance / 17

Rain Sound Blossoming beneath the Eaves of Hanok / 18

Newspaper / 19

Midair Buddha / 20

My Chairs / 21

I Too Dry Up / 22

Music Comes Down / 23

Bird Song beneath the Eaves of Hanok / 24

Wooden Veranda Floor / 25

Sweeping the Front of Gate / 26

Artificial Tears / 27

Back from Geochang / 28

Mount Deokyu, Mount Mother / 29

MERS / 30

Spring on the Way / 31

A Room to Myself / 32

Influenza / 33

Autumn in Bukchon / 34

One Word / 35

A Chest Called Kindness / 36

Rumpled / 37

Before Patchwork Wrapping-Cloth / 38

Fresh Green on Cue! / 39

A Poet’s House / 40

 

Part II

 

Samcheong Park / 43

Bukchon Village Inquiry Office / 44

Yushim Temple Site / 46

Face of Bukchon / 48

One Hundred Years, Gyedong / 50

Ahnguk Station / 52

Hibiscus of Gyedong / 53

Hanok / 55

Gyedong Arirang / 56

Dongrim Knotwork Shop / 58

Gawhoedong Catholic Church 1 / 60

Gawhoedong Catholic Church 2 / 62

White Pine of Gyedong / 63

Rickshaw / 64

Date in Korean Costume / 66

Baek In-jae’s House / 68

Jeongdok Public Library / 70

Seokjeong Boreum Well Site / 71

That Man, Jeong Saegwon / 73

Woodland Library / 75

Changdeok Palace Stonewall Walkway / 76

Good Luck This Spring / 78

Bukchon Palace Villa / 79

A Walk in the Alleys / 80

The Queen’s Palace Walkway / 81

Eight Bukchon Classics / 83

Flow, Flow, Blood! / 85

Sweet Revenge / 87

Holy Mother’s Train / 89

No Crying / 90

Wedding Anniversary / 92

Pooh / 93

Vegetable Garden / 94

 

Postscript: A Ladder Laid upon Time / 97

About the Author / 105

About the Translator / 106