The Dream of
Things:
Selected Poems of Hyonjong Chong
Author: Translated by Won-Chung Kim and Mi-Jin Kim
ISBN-13: 9781931907484
ISBN-10: 193190748X
Order No. 1052
5.5 x 8.5, Paperback
108 pages, 2008
Literature
$12.95 20% off:$10.36
BOOK DESCRIPTION
The Dream of Things brings together about
80 poems by Hyonjong Chong that best illustrate his unusual
poetic imagination and polished skill. In these poems, Chong
demonstrates his persistent pursuit of the relationship between
poet and object. It is through thoughtful meditation about
language and meticulous precision in word choice that he relates
this relationship.
Chong often extends his metaphors through unique word play
and the use of puns, which serves to dislocate readers from
common perceptions and prejudices. He enjoys poetic experimentation
in order to push conventional boundaries, which allows him
to convey his profound meditation on the relationship between
“man and man” and “man and things.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1939 in Seoul, Hyonjong Chong
is one of Korea’s best known and critically acclaimed
poets. After graduating from the Philosophy Department of Yonse
University, he worked as a journalist for some time. He spent
six months at the Iowa International Writer’s Workshop
in 1974.
Chong has published
several collections of poetry, including The Dream of Things
(1972), Festival of Suffering (1974), I’m Uncle Star (1978),
Like a Falling but Rebounding Ball (1984), I Don’t Have
Much Time to Love (1989), A Flower (1992), and Trees in the
World (1995). He has received much acclaim in the way of recognition
and awards, including the prestigious Korean Literature Writer
Prize in 1978.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATORS
Won-Chung Kim
is Professor of English Literature at Sungkyunkwan University
in Seoul, Korea. He earned his Ph.D. in English poetry at
the University of Iowa in 1993. His main areas of research
are contemporary American poetry, ecological literature and
translation. He has translated many works by noted Korean
poets including Shin Kyungrim (A Love Song for the Earnest:
Selected Poems of Shin Kyungrim), and Seungho Choi, Chiha
Kim, and Hyonjong Chong (Cracking the Shell: Three Korean
Ecopoets: Poems of Seungho Choi, Chiha Kim, and Hyonjong Chong).
Mi-Jin Kim completed her Honors B.A. from
the University of Toronto, graduating with distinction,
and specializing in English literature. She then went on
to complete her master’s degree in English literature.
She has won several writing awards, and she enjoys translating
poetry immensely. She has been a teacher of English for
the last ten years, and she is currently the head of the
largest ESL department in her region.
