{"id":15005,"date":"2026-11-10T01:14:55","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T01:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15005"},"modified":"2026-11-10T01:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T01:14:55","slug":"57th-modern-korean-literature-translation-awards-kevin-orourke-prize-winner-ku-bon-seung","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=15005","title":{"rendered":"[57TH MODERN KOREAN LITERATURE TRANSLATION AWARDS] Kevin O’Rourke Prize winner Ku Bon-seung"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 57 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"Ku<\/picture>
\n

Ku Bon-seung \/ Courtesy of Ku Bon-seung<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Ku Bon-seung, translating fiction began with wanting to share something remarkable with friends who could not read Korean.<\/p>\n

After reading a novella by writer Danyao in the summer of 2025, Ku asked for permission to translate it. The author suggested translating the whole collection instead.<\/p>\n

That exchange led to Ku\u2019s English translation of \u201cGiraffe Is the Name of the World,\u201d which won this year\u2019s Kevin O\u2019Rourke Prize in The Korea Times Literature Translation Awards.<\/p>\n

Working on Danyao\u2019s fiction helped Ku understand translation as a form of testimony \u2014 taking responsibility for conveying an experience that a summary could not adequately capture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI experienced something remarkable while reading Danyao\u2019s works, and I knew that this quality was holistic, irreducible to a well-delivered summary,\u201d Ku said in a written interview with The Korea Times.<\/p>\n

Simply sending friends the Korean text and suggesting translation tools would not have fulfilled that responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wanted to make a testimony, I should indeed make it \u2014 be responsible for it,\u201d Ku said. \u201cI think there\u2019s a communal beauty in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Korea, Ku moved to Dallas at age 10 and has lived there since, graduating this spring from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in cognitive science.<\/p>\n

An early introduction to working between languages came through interpreting for Ku\u2019s mother. Although the experience was not enjoyable, being useful brought some satisfaction.<\/p>\n

In middle school, Ku began posting translations of gaming materials on Korean internet forums. Translating favorite song lyrics later made the activity a pleasure in its own right.<\/p>\n

College brought a first venture into fiction through English-to-Korean translations of two visual novels by Estonian game developer etherane.<\/p>\n

Those years in Korean online communities also led to a friendship with Danyao. \u201cGiraffe Is the Name of the World,\u201d translated mainly in July, became the third piece Ku translated for the collection \u201cThe Great Chain of Being.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story demanded close attention to a narrator whose detached, matter-of-fact voice persists while recounting family deaths and approaching death.<\/p>\n

Ku wanted to preserve that restraint, which gradually becomes more than a way for the narrator to cope.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo preserve the texture of the narrator\u2019s voice would be to preserve the texture of the world,\u201d Ku said.<\/p>\n

One persistent challenge involved the Korean sentence ending \u201c-dago handa,\u201d which marks reported speech. It appears eight times in close succession as the narrator recounts the world\u2019s creation myth.<\/p>\n

For Ku, repeating English equivalents such as \u201cit is said\u201d drew attention to wording that felt unobtrusive in Korean. Varying the expressions or moving them within sentences did not resolve the problem.<\/p>\n

The solution came in the manuscript\u2019s final edit: retaining only the first \u201cOr so it is told\u201d and removing the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s virtually invisible now!\u201d Ku said.<\/p>\n

Ku\u2019s next priority is finishing the collection, including reworking the title novella, an early attempt at Korean-to-English literary translation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got better, so I should be able to do better, and so on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Alongside looking for full-time work, Ku is translating and localizing etherane\u2019s game Hello Charlotte 3, hoping to finish by year\u2019s end. Other ambitions include translating another Danyao novel, every song by Swans and creating Korean subtitles for the 2012 animated film \u201cIt\u2019s Such a Beautiful Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut maybe I\u2019ll never get to do them!” he said “Who knows!\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ku Bon-seung \/ Courtesy of Ku Bon-seung For Ku Bon-seung, translating fiction began with wanting to share something remarkable with friends who could not read Korean. After reading a novella by writer Danyao in the summer of 2025, Ku asked for permission to translate it. The author suggested translating the whole collection instead. That exchange…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","category-trending-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t