Additional information
by Kim Myeong-Sun (Author), Eunice Lee (Translator), Tracy K. Smith (Foreword by)
Kim Myeong-sun is Korea's first published woman writer. Fruit of Life: Poems (생명의 과실 김명순 시선) is the first book-length, Korean-to-English translation of her poetry. Kim's poems offer a raw portrait of 1920s-30s Korea, driven by her personal experiences of sexual assault, misogynistic journalism and criticism, displacement, and poverty during the Japanese colonial occupation (1910-1945). Alongside feminist critique, Kim also writes about sapphic desire, familial affection, and nature, in styles that range from the traditional to the experimental. While Kim's work was erased from the canon by Korea's misogynistic literary establishment, Fruit of Life celebrates the legacy of Kim's radical, versatile poetry, which paved the way for contemporary Korean women writers.
English-Korean Bilingual Edition
영-한 이중언어판
This book is published with the support of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea).
'한국 여성 최초 등단 작가' 김명순의 시가 영문 완역본 『생명의 과실 김명순 시선』으로 영어권 독자들을 만난다. 1920-30년대 조선 사회의 민낯을 강렬하고 가감 없는 언어로 담아낸 김명순의 시는, 일제강점기 아래 성폭력과 여성혐오적 언론 및 비평, 이주와 빈곤을 직접 겪어낸 작가의 여성주의적-반식민주의적 저항 정신을 생생히 드러낸다. 또한 전통과 실험을 넘나드는 다채로운 형식과 기법으로 여성 간 연대와 사랑, 가족애, 자연에 대하여 노래한다. 『생명의 과실 김명순 시선』은 여성혐오적 문단으로부터 소외당한 김명순의 작품을 재조명하며, 한국 여성문학의 새로운 지평을 연 그의 업적을 기념한다.
Author Biography
KIM MYEONG-SUN (1896-ca.1954) is Korea's first published woman writer. Her collection Fruit of Life (1925) is the first published volume of Korean poetry by a woman. She also authored the collection Lover's Gift (ca.1929), the award-winning short story "Girl of Mystery" (1917), and countless other works of feminist literature.
EUNICE LEE is a poet, researcher, and translator of Korean literature. She is the translator of the poetry collection Syncopation by Kim Sono (2024), and her work has appeared in The Margins, Asymptote, Azalea: Journal of Korean Literature & Culture, and more.
