The Literature Translation Institute of Korea has announced the winners of translation awards that recognize their role in the promotion of Korean literature worldwide.

The awards, which will be given out during a ceremony Thursday, include the LTI Korea Translation Awards, the LTI Award for Aspiring Translators and the LTI Korea Outstanding Service Awards.

The translation awards went to Deborah Smith, an English translator and joint winner of this year’s Man Booker International Prize, for her work on Han Kang’s novel “The Vegetarian”; Cho Kyung-hye, who translated Jeong Yu-jeong’s novel “Murder with a Twist: A Night of Seven Years” into German, titled, “Sieben Jahre Nacht”; Kim Soon-hee, who translated Lee Seung-woo’s work into Japanese, translated as “A Speculation on a Labyrinth”; and Katarzyna Rozanska who translated Yi Mun-yol’s “Our Twisted Hero” into Polish, titled “Nasz Skrzwiony Bohater.” 

Eighty-nine works in 14 languages were considered for the quality of translation, the foreign publisher, the translator’s experience, reviews by foreign media and the importance of introducing the original work overseas, according to the literature translation institute.

The awards for aspiring translators went to seven individuals: Christine Kwon, John E. Jernstad, Saison Eric Philippe, Dominik Feise, Ulises Tindon Manzano and Ekaterina Dronova for translating “Holiday” by Yoon Seong-hee into English, French, German, Spanish and Russian; and Justin Xu and Osamu Takai for translating “Temporary Teacher,” a short story by Sohn Bo-mi, into Chinese and Japanese, respectively.

The outstanding service award, which recognizes scholars, publishers and organizations who have contributed to the globalization of Korean literature, went to Kelly Falconer of the London-based Asia Literary Agency, the Shanghai Translation Publishing House and Jean-Claude De Crescenzo of De Crescenzo Publishing House.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)