Suji Kwock Kim Explained

Suji Kwock Kim is a Korean-American-British poet and playwright.^[1]

Early life and education

Kim's parents and grandparents were born in what is now North Korea. Her maternal great-grandfather co-founded the Korean Language Society and was a linguistics professor and dean at Yonsei University in Seoul.

Kim was educated at Yale University, the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, Seoul National University and Yonsei University, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, and Stanford University, where she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow.

Career

Kim's work has been published in The Best American Poetry, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, New Statesman, Irish Examiner, Slate, The Nation, The New Republic, The Paris Review, London Magazine, Poetry London, Poetry Review and Poetry; recorded for BBC Radio(https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001r1cf, "Notes from Utopia, Inc." at 29:50, and https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001rhkj, "Sono" at 29:35), National Public Radio,^[2] the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Free Genoa, Radio Free Amsterdam, and Poetry Unbound; and translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Croatian, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, and Bengali.^{[3] [4] [5]}

Music and theatre

Choral settings of her poems, composed by Mayako Kubo for the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus, Chorusorganisation, Koreanische Frauengruppe Berlin, and Japanische Fraueninitiative Berlin, premiered at Pablo Casals Hall, Tokyo in December 2007. Vocal settings of her work, composed by Jerome Blais, premiered at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and were recorded by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in March 2007. It was later performed by the Solera Quartet at the Art Institute of Chicago, May 2019, and recorded by WFMT-Chicago. Kim co-authored Private Property, a multimedia play showcased at Playwrights Horizons (NY), produced at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK), and featured on the BBC.^{[6] [7]}

Personal life

Kim married Raymond Collier Short in 2007.^[8] She lives in London.^[9]

Awards

• The Nation/ Discovery Award
• Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets^[10]
• Addison Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters ^[11]
• Whiting Writers' Award^[12]
• Northern California Book Award/ Bay Area Book Reviewers Award
• Griffin International Poetry Prize shortlist^[13]
• Lucille Medwick Award from the Poetry Society of America
• two George Bogin Memorial Awards from the Poetry Society of America
• O'Donoghue Award from Munster Literature Centre, Ireland
• Clore Award from Poetry London, U.K.
• International Book & Pamphlet Award, U.K.

Works

• Notes from the Divided Country (Louisiana State University Press, 2003)
• Notes from the North (Smith/Doorstop, U.K., 2022)
• Private Property (multimedia play, Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
• "hwajon," "Flight," "Looking at a Yi Dynasty Rice Bowl" (texts for choral compositions by Mayako Kubo, Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus, 2007)
• "Occupation," "Fragments of the Forgotten War," "Montage with Neon" (texts for compositions for voice and piano by Jerome Blais, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2007 and Art Institute of Chicago, May 2019)

Anthologies

• American Religious Poems, ed. Harold Bloom. (Library of America, 2006)
• American War Poetry: 1700-2020, ed. Lorrie Goldensohn. (Columbia University Press, 2021)
• Asian-American Poetry: The Next Generation. (University of Illinois Press, 2004)
• Backpack Literature, ed. Dana Gioia. (Pearson Longman, 2021)
• The Bedford Introduction to Literature, 13th edition (Macmillan, forthcoming)
• Berliner Anthologie (Alexander Verlag, in association with Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin, 2006)
• Best American Poetry 2018. (Scribner, 2018)
• Best American Poetry 2016. (Scribner, 2016)
• Century of the Tiger: One Hundred Years of Korean Culture in America. (University of Hawaii Press, 2003)
• Contemporary American Poetry. (Penguin, 2004)
• Contemporary American Poetry in Russian Translation. (Dalkey Archive and OSI Publishers, Moscow, 2008, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts)
• Crossing State Lines: An American Renga. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011)
• Echoes Upon Echoes: New Korean American Writing, ed. Elaine Kim. (Temple University Press, 2003)
• The Future Dictionary of America, ed. Dave Eggers. (McSweeney's, 2004)
• The Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology. (House of Anansi Press, Toronto, 2004)
• Inside Literature. (Pearson Longman, 2007)
• An Introduction to Poetry. (Pearson Longman, 2012)
• The Koreas, Charles Armstrong. (Routledge, 2013)
• Language for a New Century: Contemporary Voices from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond. (Norton, 2008)
• Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century. (Sarabande, 2006)
• Lineas Conectadas: Nueva Poesia de los Estates Unidos. (Sarabande, 2006, in Spanish translation, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts)
• Literature: A Pocket Anthology. (Penguin, 2017)
• Literature: A Portable Anthology. (Macmillan/ Bedford St Martin's, 2020)
• Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. (Pearson Longman, 2019)
• Love is Strong as Death. (Penguin Australia-New Zealand, 2019)
• A Mingling of Waters. (Supernova P&D Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata, India, 2008, sponsored by the Kolkata Book Fair)
• The Paris Review Book for Planes, Trains, Elevators and Waiting Rooms. (Picador, 2004)
• Places of Poetry: Mapping the Nation in Verse (Poetry Society/ One World, U.K., 2020)
• Poet's Choice: Poems from the Washington Post (Harcourt, 2006)
• Poetry: A Pocket Anthology. (Penguin, 2014)
• Poetry For Students. (Thomson Gale, 2006)
• Poetry On Record, 1888-2006: 98 Poets Read Their Work. (Shout Factory/ Sony Music, 2006)
• Poetry 30. (University of West Virginia Press, 2005)
• Roots and Seeds. (Hazel Press, U.K., 2022)
• Staying Human. (Bloodaxe, U.K., 2020)
• To Gather Your Leaving: Asian Diaspora Poetry. (Ethos Books, Singapore, 2019)

External links

• Suji Kwock Kim Website
• "Notes from the North"
• The Guardian Poem of the Week
• "Poet's Choice", Washington Post, Robert Pinsky, August 27, 2006
• Los Angeles Times "Drunk Metaphysics"
• Profile at The Whiting Foundation
• Griffin Poetry Prize biography
• Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip
• 2005 University of California at Berkeley video clip
• National Book Festival (Library of Congress) profile and video clip
• Web site: Writing In the New Year; New Year at the Demilitarized Zone . New York Times . December 31, 2003 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Writers in Residence 2024 shortlist announced!. Gladstones Library. Rhian. Waller. 14 July 2023. 2 October 2024.
2. Web site: Korean Poet Suji Kwock Kim . Siegel. Robert. . 19 January 2024.
3. Web site: Suji Kwock Kim Poetry Foundation. 17 January 2022.
4. http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/930 Academy of American Poets profile
5. http://www.pen.org/members/sujikwockkim PEN Member profile
6. Web site: Suji Kwock Kim Poetry Foundation. 17 January 2022.
7. http://www.pen.org/members/sujikwockkim PEN Member profile
8. Web site: Suji Kim and Raymond Short. The New York Times. 15 April 2007. 3 October 2024.
9. Web site: Suji Kwock Kim and Dove Cottage Poets: Poetry in the Garden-Orchard. Wordsworth Grasmere. June 2023. 3 October 2024.
10. http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/930 Academy of American Poets profile
11. http://www.artsandletters.org/press_releases/2007literature.pdf 2007 American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards announcement
12. Web site: Suji Kwock Kim.
13. http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/awards-and-poets/shortlists/2004-shortlist/suji-kwock-kim/ Griffin Poetry Prize biography