International Literary Exchanges

HISTORY

2011
The Foundation’s international cultural exchange projects for 2011 are as follows:
Daesan-Berkeley Writer in Residence Program
The Foundation and U.C. Berkeley, a prestigious university located on the west coast of the United States, collectively ran the sixth Daesan-Berkeley Writer in Residence Program, enacted to promote cultural exchange between Korean and the United States, as well as to provide talented, rising authors with a meaningful writing experience. The Foundation received applications from literary talent less than fifty years old, who pursue purely creative fields like poetry, fiction, and drama among others; the Foundation selected poet Daesong Jang after a screening process. The residency lasted for three months, beginning in April 2011. 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.
Sponsoring the Reception to Mark Seung-U Lee’s Book Launching in Japan
The Foundation sponsored a reception held in Japan to celebrate novelist Seung-U Lee’s The Reverse Side of Life (生の裏面), which was published by Fujiwara Shoten Press. This book won the 1st Daesan Literary Awards, and it was translated into Japanese after being awarded the “Grants for Korean Literature Studies Overseas” in 2008. Novelist Seung-U Lee and translator Sunhee Kim (professor at the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation at Ewha Womans University) attended the reception, and book launching events, question and answer periods, and media interviews among other activities were conducted in Tokyo and Kyoto starting on Monday, October 17 and continued until Friday, October 21.
Sponsoring Poet, Ko Un’s Reading in France
The Foundation sponsored a reading of Ko Un’s poetical works Chuchotements and Dix Mille Vies, which were published in France. Chuchotements was translated through Daesan’s “Grants for the Translation, Research and Publication of Korean Literary Works” in 2010, and Dix Mille Vies was translated through a grant provided by the Korea Literature Translation Institute. Poet Ko Un and his wife, along with translators Mi-Sug No and Alain Genetiot, attended the reading hosted by Editions Belin. A symposium, “A Night of Literature,” and a poetry reading among other activities were held in Paris and other places in southern France- the events started on Thursday, October 20 and continued until Friday, October 28.