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Young-Moo Kim was born in 1944 in Paju, near Seoul. After earning his B.A. and M.A. from the English Depart–ment of Seoul National University, he received his Ph.D. from the English Department of SUNY at Stony Brook with a dissertation on George Eliot. He became a Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Seoul National University in 1981. He died on November 26, 2001. His first article on Korean poetry, dedicated to the poet Yi Yuksa, published in 1975, signified his recognition as a literary critic. He published a number of translations from English: including a volume of translations of poems by William Blake, and several works on religious themes. He was a devout Catholic. He published a volume of personal essays in 1988 and a volume of literary criticism on "The Language of Poetry and the Language of Life" in 1990, which received the prize for criticism in the 1991 Republic of Korea Literary Awards. Brother Anthony and he translated The Sound of my Waves and Beyond Self by Ko Un, Back to Heaven by Ch'on Sang-Pyong, Faint Shadows of Love by Kim Kwang-kyu, and Farmers' Dance by Shin Kyong-Nim. There are still three more volumes of works by Ko Un waiting to be published under their combined names. The volume of Kim Kwang-Kyu won the Translation Prize in the 1991 Republic of Korea Literary Awards, and the Ch'on Sang-Pyong volume was awarded the 1996 Korean PEN Translation Prize. Brother Anthony and he were the judges in the Korea Times Translation Awards for several years. In 1991, during a 2-year stay as visiting professor in Toronto (Canda), he began to publish poems in a local Korean-language newspaper. In 1992, he and five others published in Toronto a collection of their poems. He published a number of poems in Korea early in 1993 and his first volume was published in May 1993. A second volume was published while he was still in hospital recovering from an operation for lung cancer in August 1998. He and his family spent a year in Perth, Australia in 1999-2000 and his third volume, including poems inspired by his experience of sickness and others about Australia, was published in April 2001. It earned him the 3rd Paeksok Literary Award, which his widow received in his place, four days after his death, on November 30. In the acceptance speech he had prepared for the Paeksok award ceremony, he described how he had begun to find poems arising in him after seeing, in the church of a monastery outside Toronto, a crucifix on which was hung an image, not of the human body of Jesus but of the green globe of the natural creation, crowned with thorns and bleeding. This image, combining his own ecological concerns and his Catholic faith, deeply impressed him and the sight of it served as a moment of epiphany. From early in 2001, he was bedridden by the spreading cancer. Thanks to his wife's devoted care, he was able to remain at home, writing, translating, and meeting friends, until the pain became too intolerable. He was taken to hospital on November 20 and died at 7:30pm on November 26, 2001. |
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Translator: Brother
Anthony of Taize (An Sonjae) Born in Truro (Cornwall, U. K.) in 1942. Studied Medieval and Modern Languages at The Queen's College, in the University of Oxford, from 1960 until 1969. Joined the Community of Taize (France) in 1969. Taize is the name of a small village not far from Macon and Cluny in eastern France. Since 1940 it has been home to an ecumenical monastic community of brothers known as the Community of Taize. Taize has become well-known in recent decades for hosting meetings where young adults from all over the world pray and share together. The Community's main concern is to promote reconciliation and trust. Here is a glimpse of Taize. Made Life Commitment in the Community at Easter 1974. Lived in the Philippines 1977-80. Came to Korea in May 1980, invited by Cardinal Kim. Lives in Seoul with other Brothers from Taize. Began to teach in Sogang University in September 1980. Now a full Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, teaching medieval and Renaissance English literature and culture. Served as Department Chairman 1992 - 1994. Has written a number of books and articles about English literature, and translated works of modern Korean literature. President of the Medieval and Early Modern English Studies Association of Korea 1998-2000. Was in charge of the British & American Cultures Major from July 2000, and Chair of the English Department from May 2001. Released from both anxieties July 2003. Naturalized in 1994 with the Korean name An Sonjae.
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