International Literary Exchanges

HISTORY

2008
In 2008, authors, Lee Dongha and Lee Yungi, who were critically acclaimed abroad, visited the United States and Germany respectively and opened a book tour. The Daesan-U.C. Berkeley Korean Writer-in-Residence Program was successful in its first 3 years prompting the decision to extend the program for three more years until 2011.
In 2008, the Foundation supported the International Literary Exchange program in the following manner:
Joint Lecture by Orhan Pamuk and Hwang Sokyong and Reading by Orhan Pamuk
The Foundation, together with the Korean Publishers Association, sponsored a joint lecture featuring renowned Turkish Nobel Prize (2006) winning author Orhan Pamuk and celebrated Korean novelist Hwang Sokyong, a book signing event for readers, and a book reading by Orhan Pamuk.
A joint lecture by Orhan Pamuk and Hwang Sokyong, monitored by literary critic Kim Dongsik, was held in the auditorium located on the 23rd floor of the Gangnam Kyobo Tower on May 12. During the afternoon of May 13, as a part of the "Spaces for Reading with Authors" event held annually by the Foundation and the Kyobo Book Centre, a lecture and book reading opened in the auditorium located on the 10th floor of the Kyobo Building.
Daesan-U.C. Berkeley Korean Writer-in-Residence Program
In order to offer talented young writers a meaningful creative experience, as well as to further literary and cultural exchanges between Korea and the U.S., the Foundation has established a Korean writer-in-residence program in collaboration with the prestigious University of California at Berkeley. Applications were received from recognized writers in the fields of poetry, fiction or drama; eligible writers had to be less than fifty years old, and after screening, the novelist Jo Kyungran was selected to be the recipient of this program. The program consists of English classes, Korean translation and Korean literature lectures, attendance at literary events on- and off-campus, exchanges with noted American writers, and visits to various parts of the United States. The program lasted for three months starting in September 2008.
U.S. Book Tour to Celebrate the Publishing of Toy City by Lee Dongha
The book tour to celebrate the publishing of Toy City by Lee Dongha, which was published by Koryo Press after being translated through a grant by the Foundation, opened in Minnesota and Los Angeles for a week starting on April 12. The reading held in a bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota close to the location of Koryo Press on April 14 was sponsored by the Department of Korean Studies at Minnesota University. The second book reading was held on April 19 at the Pio Pico Koreatown Branch Library in Los Angeles; the reading was attended not only by Korean Americans and second generations Koreans registered at the library, but also Americans interested in Korea literature and culture.
German Book Tour Celebrating the Publishing of Kurve und Gerade by Lee Yungi
The Foundation held a German book tour for Kurve and Gerade written by Lee Yungi and published by Wallstein after being translated through a grant by the Foundation. This book tour, which lasted from October 14 to October 19, traveled through six cities including Bonn, Munster, Mainz, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, and Bochum for six days and five nights; excluding Mainz, the tour was conducted jointly with Lee Munyol's book reading, which was sponsored by the Korea Literature Translation Institute, traveling through five cities. Each event was packed, attended by 50-150 guests, and in this book tour, a wide range of questions were posed amidst an intellectually charged atmosphere including questions about the world created by the author in the book, the differences between Eastern and Western literature, and the importance of translating Korean literature.