“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.

Book translations

• Violet by Kyung-Sook Shin (Feminist Press, 2022)
• Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong (Moonji Books, 2021)
• Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (Honford Star, 2021)
• Late Rainy Season Vacation by Sang Young Park (Tilted Axis Press, 2021)
• The Prisoner by Hwang Sok-yong (with Sora Kim-Russell, Verso UK & US, 2021)
• The Underground Village by Kang Kyeong-ae (Honford Star, 2018)
• The Court Dancer by Kyung-Sook Shin (Pegasus Books, 2018)

Publications

• Samovar : “The Head” by Bora Chung
• Words Without Borders : “Genesis” by Jeon Sam-hye, “A Lunar Sorority” (essay), “The Tears of an Unknown Artist, or Zaytun Pasta” by Sang Young Park, “The Emerging Literary Translator Valley of Death” (essay), guest editor for 2019 feature on queer Korean literature
• Bitter Melon Poetry : “24 March 2020” (essay)
• Asymptote Journal : “Aficionados” by Jung Young Su
• Litro Magazine : (Essays) “How to Write Queer Korean Lit: A Manual,” “Silence,” “Exile,” “Cunning”
• Chogwa: “The Snail” by Jin Eun-Young
• 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 interview
• KBS World Radio Korea24 interview
• 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

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