Sora Kim-Russell Explained

Sora Kim-Russell (Korean: 김소라; born 1976) is a Korean American writer and translator from California, currently residing in Seoul. She received an MA in East Asian Studies from Stanford University and has translated a number of prominent Korean writers, including Hwang Sok-yong, Pyun Hye-young, and Jeon Sungtae.[1] Her translations have appeared in outlets such as The New Yorker and Harper's Magazine.[2] Among other accolades, her translation of Hwang Sok-young's At Dusk () was longlisted for the 2019 International Booker Prize.[3]

Biography

Kim-Russell is a biracial Korean-American. She began formally studying Korean in university and worked for a Korean studies journal in Seoul, editing translation. While working as an editor, she entered the Korea Times' literature translation contest in 2005 and won for poetry, and won the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) contest for new translators in 2007.[4] As a translator, she has taught literary translation courses at Ewha Womans University's Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, LTI Korea, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, and served as a mentor for the ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship Program.[5] She is a member of the translation collective Smoking Tigers, whose name is derived from the stock phrase of Korean folktales 호랑이 담배 피우던 시절에 (Long, long ago, back when tigers used to smoke tobacco), for Korean-to-English translators, which includes authors and translators such as Sung Ryu, Stella Kim, Soje, and Deborah Smith.[6]

Kim-Russell has often commented on challenges in Korean translation, namely of certain untranslatable words and concepts in Korea, such as han, dapdaphada (a physical sensation of suffocation caused by feeling frustrated or unable to speak or act freely), and eogulhada (to feel that something is unfair or undeserved), and a perception of 'vagueness' in Korean writing because of the relatively sparse nature of Korean compared to English as a topic-prominent language with minimal pronouns.[7] [8] Her essays on topics including mixed-race Koreans, LGBTQ representation in Korean film, and North Korea have been published by a variety of publications.[9] [10]

Awards and nominations

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sora Kim-Russell. 2021-10-06. Center for the Art of Translation Two Lines Press. en-US.
  2. News: Art and Politics of Translation: Behind the Scenes with Sora Kim-Russell — Korean Cultural Center New York. en-US. Korean Cultural Center New York. 2021-10-06.
  3. Web site: 2019-03-14. Man Booker International 2019 longlist announced. 2019-03-18. Books+Publishing. en-AU.
  4. Web site: The Bucket List: Translator Interview: Sora Kim-Russell. 2021-10-06. The Bucket List.
  5. Web site: Art and Politics of Translation: Behind the Scenes with Sora Kim-Russell. 2021-10-06. Korean Cultural Center New York. 5 November 2019 . en-US.
  6. Web site: rcldaum. 2019-02-07. Collective Conversations: An Interview with the Smoking Tigers. 2021-10-08. ALTA Blog. en.
  7. Web site: 2017-04-05. Why So Serious? Translating Korean Satire and Comedy. 2021-10-06. Center for the Art of Translation Two Lines Press. en-US.
  8. Web site: 2019-03-07. The Implicit I: Contesting Ambiguity in Korean Literature. 2021-10-06. Asian American Writers' Workshop. en-US.
  9. Web site: Read – KUMFA. 2021-10-06. en-US.
  10. Web site: Kim-Russell. Sora. LGBT Korea on Film: Anonymity and Representation. 2021-10-06. Words Without Borders. 20 June 2011 .
  11. Web site: At Dusk longlisted for the 2020 PEN Translation Prize News Scribe US. 2021-10-08. scribepublications.com. en-US.
  12. News: Petra Mayer. Mayer. Petra. 2021-09-17. Here Are The Longlist Nominees For This Year's National Book Awards. en. NPR. 2021-10-06.
  13. News: Marshall . Alex . 9 April 2024 . Heartbreak and Family Love on the International Booker Prize Shortlist . 10 April 2024 . The New York Times.

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