YEOYU, 여유, is hard to translate, but means something like 'scope', and/or 'relaxed' in English; scope to be yourself, to follow your own interests.
In some ways, it means the opposite of being constrained by convention, more to be unbounded or relaxed in such a way. In a sense, it means to be oneself, but with enough 'left over' - for others, maybe; or for other things.
As a title, it is intended to capture the diverse range of themes and styles the series, and Korean literature far more widely, has to offer the curious reader and to also say something figurative and fun about the act and process of translation.
These stories were chosen in consultation with translation trailblazer and publisher-activist Deborah Smith, who joined us as series co-editor. As with our popular KESHIKI project, the series is again presented in eight exquisitely designed chapbooks, collectible as a set but also available individually, to emphasise how each writer and each story is unique and distinctive, but nevertheless part of a wider context.
EUROPA by Han Kang // Deborah Smith
FIVE PRELUDES... by Cheon Heerahn // Emily Yae Won
LEFT'S RIGHT... by Han Yujoo // Janet Hong
MILENA, MILENA... by Bae Suah // Deborah Smith
OLD WRESTLER by Jeon Sungtae // Sora Kim-Russell
KONG'S GARDEN by Hwang Jungeun // Jeon Seung-Hee
DEMONS by Kang Hwagil // Mattho Mandersloot
DIVORCE by Kim Soom // Emily Yae Won
The designs also present a 'division' as well as fusion; four of them take a more Korean-text-influenced design approach and four of them are more English-focused and image-based; we are playing with ideas of duality and cultural exchange, as befits a translation project such as this one.
We have chosen stories from already established authors such as Han Kang and Bae Suah as well as some relative newcomers to an English readership, in the hopes that some will introduce you to others as a result. Similarly, our translators too may be familiar to many of you, but others are relative newcomers to the art. We hope you find them all as fascinating and fun to read and explore as we have found them to edit, design and now publish... take a look!
YEOYU was made possible by generous funding from LTI Korea
