“A little too fluent”—South China Morning Post
I am a writer and translator working in Seoul. I was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and raised in British Hong Kong, Ethiopia, and Thailand, but mostly in Korea, where I’ve lived for thirty years. I was awarded the title of Person of Distinguished Service to the Nation after serving in the Korean Army.
Writing
- Fictional Notes toward an Essay in Translation
- How to Write Queer Korean Lit: A Manual
- The Emerging Literary Translator Valley of Death
- From the Translator: A Lunar Sorority
- On writing:
- 24 March 2020
Book translations
- I Went to See My Father by Kyung-Sook Shin (Astra House, 2023)
- Violet by Kyung-Sook Shin (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Feminist Press, 2022)
- Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong (Moonji Books, 2021)
- Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park (Grove, Tilted Axis, 2021)
- Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (Honford Star, 2021)
- The Prisoner by Hwang Sok-yong (Verso, Penguin Random House US, 2021)
- The Underground Village by Kang Kyeong-ae (Honford Star, 2018)
- The Court Dancer by Kyung-Sook Shin (Pegasus Books, 2018)
Book chapters
- What Does It Mean to Decolonise Translation?: “The Mythical English Reader” (Tilted Axis, 2021)
- International LGBTQ+ Literature for Children and Young Adults: “Boys Who Wear Dresses: Queer Narrative Strategies in Korean Children’s Literature” (Anthem, 2021)
- The Valancourt Book of World Horror Vol. 2: “Masks” by Bora Chung (Valancourt, 2021)
Other translations
- Samovar : “The Head” by Bora Chung
- Words Without Borders : “Genesis” by Jeon Sam-hye, “The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta” by Sang Young Park, “About My Daughter” by Kim Hye-jin, guest editor for 2019 feature on queer Korean literature
- The Guardian : Kyung-Sook Shin for “Seven novelists from around the world living with the pandemic”
- Asymptote Journal : “Aficionados” by Jung Young Su
- Chogwa: “The Snail” by Jin Eun-Young and others
- Modern Poetry in Translation : Chogwa revisions issue
- Anomaly : “A Spell to Invoke the White Dolphin” by Jeon Sam-hye
- Columbia Journal : “Nights in Lebanon” by Jung Young Su
- Westerly Magazine : Poetry by Shim Bo-seon and others
- Slice Magazine : Exquisite corpse project by Jeon Sam-hye
- Queen Mob’s Tea House : “The Joy of Music” by Jung Young Su
- Korean Literature Now : Poetry by Kim Un and others
- Cordite : “Was” (poem)
Interviews
- Shondaland
- Prism magazine
- KBS World Radio Korea24 (audio)
- National Centre for Writing Podcast (with Jeremy Tiang)
- Books & Bao: Meet the Translator
- Arts Council Korea, Music of the Sentences (Korean): Part 1, Part 2
- EBS Morning Date: Part 1, Part 2
- Korean Literature Now interview (with Sang Young Park)
- Matthew Sciarappa’s YouTube channel
Grants and Awards
- PEN/Heim Translation Fund grant (2020)
- PEN Translates award (2017)
- Daesan Foundation literary translation grant (2017)
- GKL Korean Literature Translation Award (2018)
- Multiple grants from the Literary Translation Institute of Korea
- Multiple grants from the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea
- Multiple grants from Arts Council Korea
- Translator-in-residence at the National Centre for Writing, UK
- Translator-in-residence at Queen’s College Translation Exchange, University of Oxford
Taught at
- Yonsei University Department of Korean Language and Literature
- Literary Translation Institute of Korea
- Ewha University Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation
- Seoul National University College English Program
Education
- MA (English), Seoul National University (under Dr. Nancy Jiwon Cho)
- LLB, Korea University College of Law
- BA (Psychology), Korea University
- BA (French), Korea National Open University
Other
- Member of the Author’s Guild (US)
- Member of the Translators’ Association of the Society of Authors (UK)
- Manages Korean literary translation group Smoking Tigers
- Korean literature critic on KBS World Radio’s Korea 24
- Korean literature critic on TBS eFM’s The Bookend (2015-2017)
Twitter: @AntonHur, Instagram: @AntonHur, Newsletter: subscribe
