International Literary Exchanges

HISTORY

2010
The Foundations international cultural exchange projects for 2010 are as follows:
Daesan- U.C. Berkeley Korean Writer Residency Program
The Foundation and U.C. Berkeley, a prestigious university located on the west coast of the United States, collectively ran the fourth Korean Writer Residency Program, enacted to promote cultural exchange between Korean and the United States, as well as to provide talented rising writers with a meaningful writing experience. The Foundation received applications from literary talent, less than fifty years old, pursuing purely creative fields like poetry, fiction, and drama among others; the Foundation selected novelist Yeongmun Jeong after a screening process. The residency lasted for three months, beginning in April 2010, the important parts of the program included English training, classes in translating Korean, lectures about Korean literature, participating in literary events off and on campus, engaging in cultural exchange with prominent writers in America, planning special cultural events, and touring America.
France's Literary Magazine Europe's Publication of a Special Issue Devoted to Korean Modern Literature
With support from the Foundation, Europe magazine published a special edition devoted to Korean modern literature in May under the guidance of the Planning Committee for Special Edition on Korean Novels (Chief Director: Jean Bellemin-No?l, Professor Emeritus of University of Paris VIII). Europe magazine opened its doors in 1923, and it is an authoritative, professional literary academic journal in France that publishes special editions focusing on authors, literary trends, and literature from specific countries around the world. This edition gathers seven Korean authors, along with their representative works and respective commentary; the Foundation anticipates this will contribute to introducing Korean literature to the world through francophone areas.
Support for the 19th Annual Conference on International Comparative Literature
The Foundation sponsored the 19th Annual Conference on International Comparative Literature, which was hosted by the Organizing Committee of ICLA (International Comparative Literature Association, Chair: Chungho Chung, professor at Chungang University) and organized by the Korean Comparative Literature Association. This year's event, which ran from August 15 (Sunday) to August 21 (Saturday) at Chung-Ang University, had as its theme, "Expanding the Frontiers of Comparative Literature; more than a thousand native and foreign scholars attended the event, which also conducted symposiums and other various accompanying functions. Erudite scholars from around the world, including Nobel Prize Winner, German writer Herta Muller attended the event, also visiting the Foundation and conducting a book reading.
Support for Poet, Kim Kwang-Kyu's Reading in Germany
Kim Kwang-Kyu's collection of poems, At the First Encounter or Botschaften vom gr?nen Planeten, was translated and published at Wallstein Publishing through the Foundation's Korean Literature Translation Grant in 2004; accordingly, the Foundation supported Kim Kwang-Kyu and the translator who embarked on a book reading and lecture tour through Germany to promote and inform people of Korean literature. With poet Kim Kwang-Kyu, Heyong Chong (Professor Emeritus at Hanyang University), and translator Birgit Mersmann (professor at the University of Erfurt) in attendance, the tour traveled through Thuringia, Saxony, and Bavaria from October 24 (Sunday) to November 5 (Friday).