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INTERVIEW Interview with Oh Eun: What We Don’t Know Is Worth Not Knowing Well by Ko Myeong-jae
INTERVIEW Interview with Kim Ae-ran: Attentive Minds and Literary Forms by Kim Mijung
INTERVIEW Interview with Jin Eun-young: Buttons from the Gift Giver by An Heeyeon
COVER FEATURES [Review] Where Are All Those Pronouns Going? When we think of Oh Eun, the poet and his poetry, the first thing that comes to mind is wordplay—a childlike delight in playing with language. Of the many forms wordplay can take, Oh Eun’s poetic technique and voice are most defined by homonymy and the maximization of its effect. An example is the way he freewheels through the many words that share the pronunciation “seol”—New Year’s Day, tongue (頍), speech (飹), snow (馯)—all in a single poem, displaying a sophisticated sensitivity to language, an effervescent tone, and a distinct aesthetic sense. This is the poetry of Oh Eun we’re all familiar with, a realm of his own where no one else can approach him. (Incidentally, Korean homophones rarely carry over nicely into other languages. This will be the greatest challenge facing any translator of Oh Eun’s poetry.) But while his poetry reads very much like a child’s innocent play, this doesn’t mean it can be passed over with a cursory glance. Whether intentionally or otherwise, it imparts a sense of weighty thematic concerns lying beneath the surface. The desire and lack levied upon individuals under the capitalist system, the social class conferred upon a person at birth and the inequalities arising from it—at the base of his poetry is a series of topics far removed from light wordplay. A tone of sadness, stemming from not only human limitations but the limitation of all beings in this world, prevents us from passing over it lightheartedly. Especially in his most recent work, we find this tone of sadness lying densely at the deepest level of his poetry. His most recent collection, The Pronoun for Nothingness, once again effortlessly blends this characteristic levity of voice, depth of thought, and undertone of sadness, but a new feature is apparent as well—the intensive use of pronouns. The word “pronoun” appears in the title of the collection, and the table of contents is a lineup of identically-titled poems named after the pronouns “There,” “That,” “Those,” “Them,” “He,” “You,” and so on, while even more pronouns overflow from the main text. Before we dig in to this rich feast of pronouns, let’s take a moment to savor the concept of the pronoun itself. According to the Standard Korean Language Dictionary, a pronoun is “a word used in place of a person or thing’s name. Or, the term for the part of speech referring to such words.” Put simply, it is a word that replaces a noun. That is, a word that presupposes a noun. We could go as far as to say it is a word that can exert no power without a noun. Without the noun for a thing—for instance, a chair—a pronoun like this or that ends up referring to nothing or to anything at all. Our ability to use a given pronoun with confidence presupposes that there is already a noun ascribed to its referent. Occasionally, there are times when we struggle to remember the noun—when we can clearly picture the thing but can’t remember its name—but this is another case in which a pronoun is useful. The pronoun steps in to take the place of the noun, however insufficiently, until we can recall the name of the thing. Or when we’ve encountered a thing for the first time, and we don’t yet know its name or still haven’t come up with a name for it, then a pronoun comes in handy. In this sense, a pronoun is a faithful complement to a noun. On the other hand, sometimes pronouns are used in a way that flips their presumed role as a replacement or auxiliary on its head. In other words, there are moments when we witness an inversion of the hierarchical perception that the referent comes first, followed by the noun, followed by the pronoun. Such scenes play out occasionally in philosophy and literature, and to an extreme in Oh Eun’s poetry. The abundant pronouns in The Pronoun for Nothingness are evidence of this. To break the hierarchical order of referent-noun-pronoun, Oh Eun’s poetry goes on the offensive against nouns, as in, “The starlight appeared and the star was gone / The mountain bird sang and the mountain went away / The seawater swelled and the sea dried up // Like a word forgetting its meaning / The moment it’s pronounced” (“That”). Here, “star,” “mountain,” and “sea” all function as names for things and play the role of denoting their meanings as well as referring to them, but the moment the word is uttered, what disappears is the star, the mountain, and the sea—that is, the thing itself. As soon as we realize that the noun is unrelated to the real object it presupposes, the pronoun which takes its place also loses its relation to the thing itself and the noun which names it, and the frame of the hierarchy is broken. The noun and pronoun become equal in being nothing more than words. There is no serious distinction between them, as they can both be separated from the thing itself at any time. Since a word is only a word, it cannot maintain unique coordinates. It takes on a different meaning with each use, in each new context and situation. How unstable, how uncertain is the meaning of “person” in the lines, “Lucky to be a person, and / Even luckier not to have been” (“They”)? Staring down the fact that each person in this poem is every bit as unstable and uncertain as the pronoun they which collectively replaces them, Oh Eun’s poetry does not restrain its offensive to nouns only, nor even to language as a whole, which nouns might be expected to represent. The referent of language, the thing itself, is just as hard to pin down. When someone signs off on a new place because it has three windows, only to discover on moving day that the three windows have become two (“He”), is this simply a misperception? Or did the thing itself change? Either way, the outside world is no longer so easy to trust. You can never be sure when things will change, when perceptions will change, when language will change. When “They only looked away for a second / And this ceased to be this / This gave up on being this / They go back into the bathroom / They search the utility closet up and down / But this never shows back up” (“This”), the unstable mutability of the world/perception/language represented by this applies just as much to us—both the thing itself and the concept—as well as to me—both thing and concept. When we use the word us, we may grow close enough to share secrets, but this we is only a temporary result, unable to go beyond the we “outside the parentheses” (“We”). Whether the real we sits outside the signifier we or the signifier we sits outside the real we, in every moment that we are referred to as we, we grow more distant from us. A we wrenched further apart with each invocation.1 And this situation cannot simply be avoided by me. For instance, in the lines, “Alone / In the bathroom // All by myself, and still / It was an effort for me to smile” (“Me”), myself is wrenched apart from me, whether the signifier or the thing itself, imparting some sense of why I can only ever be other to myself. The somber but not unfamiliar realization that it takes effort to move myself, just as it would to move another, produces a keen sense of the futility of the desire to name, describe, or capture the thing itself. And when you are “born a proper noun but [. . .] often called a pronoun,” and live out your life hopping from adjective to numeral, verb, determiner, adverb, and so on, this is why the last thing you have to say is something like a self-pitying sigh: “Oh, this wasn’t the sentence!” (“You”). We wander through so many sentences only to find the wrong one. As long as we live, we will continue to choose the wrong sentence, and the final sentence we choose to sum up our lives is bound to be wrong too. This predicament resulting from the unbridgeable gap between language and thing, sign and object, signifier and signified, leaves a bitter aftertaste. But Oh Eun’s poetry does not stop at bitterness. Bitterness is only one of the many flavors his poetry can offer. And there is one more that must be discussed—sadness. For instance, let’s take a look at the first poem, “There.” The fact that “cheerfulness” appears twice in such a short poem might lead us to imagine the speaker’s cheerful face, but the speaker’s attitude as he greets his father’s ashes “as cheerfully as possible” isn’t so simple. At the most basic level, the there where the speaker’s father resides must be the charnel house that holds his ashes, but ultimately this there is a place that cannot be reached by the living. Only in death does it become a part of one’s lived (?) experience. It is a place that can’t be approached by the language of life, but which we yearn to speak to, if only in life’s language. The speaker doesn’t want to say anything particularly special. Just a cheerful phrase like, “I’ve been doing well.” Or a word of grief, sadness, or longing that he’s been holding back with cheerfulness. The thought that he’ll be headed there one day too. The promise to live with “precipitously overflowing cheerfulness” if only for the sake of his father, who departed first for “that far off day.” Reading over poems steeped in this feeling, we realize why this poetry collection overflowing with pronouns had to be titled The Pronoun for Nothingness. And it is the poet’s foreword that reminds us of the foundation of loss and absence that sustains the collection: “In the place of loss, there was is.” As long as we live, “Nothingness will forever knock on former somethingness” (“Those”). This “former somethingness” not only refers to a past presence, but also strongly suggests that all presence is momentary. No one can escape the fate of staying for only a moment before moving on. And once we recognize that this moment of presence is premised on absence, all the pronouns in these poems suddenly read as if they refer back to absence. We realize that, as we go through life naming, memorizing, and forgetting the names for things, the pronouns that accompany us can ultimately only refer to nothing—nonrelation, namelessness. And we accept the bitter but unmistakable fact that, even in our way of referring to the that, there, and then which can only be called nothingness, human knowledge can’t help but rely on a pronoun. There’s no other way; all we can do is call it what it is. There, at the final destination of life, is that. Sometime, you will be there, as will I. Translated by Seth Chandler Kim Un is the author of the poetry collections including One Sentence, Your Unknowable Heart, and To the Blank Page, and the essay collection Everyone Holds a Sentence in the Heart, the poetics collection Poetry Does Not Speak of Parting, the literary criticism collection Beyond the Writing of Violence and Allure, and the reader’s memoir, Reading Old Books. He has received the Midang Literary Award, Park In-Hwan Literary Award, Kim Hyeon Prize, and Daesan Literary Award. He is currently a professor at the School of Creative Writing, Seoul Institute of the Arts. Korean WORK Mentioned:• Oh Eun, The Pronoun for Nothingness (Moonji Publishing, 2023) 1 Translator’s Note: This is a play on the Korean words “uri” (辦葬 – we, us) and “yuri” (嶸葬 – isolated, separated, divided) which are near homophones/homographs, further suggesting the inherent divisions within any us. I’ve attempted to translate this through the visual similarity of “we” and “wrenched,” but the effect is difficult to reproduce.
REVIEWS You Say Tomato... EBS Documentary: The East and the WestEBS The East and the West production team & Kim Myungjin, Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd., 2008, 240p This book contains materials from an EBS (a Korean TV station) documentary series of the same title. The producers of the series travelled around various countries including Korea, the United States, Canada, and Japan, interviewing 20 experts, and conducting surveys and tests on over 200 individuals from these countries. A great deal of their material was contributed by the East-West Comparative Culture and Psychology researchers from the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, and Stanford University. The documentary series gained popularity among viewers, and is now available at local bookstores. According to this book, even when offering someone more tea, Westerners and Easterners take different approaches. In the East, one asks a verb-centered question, “drink more?” while in theWest, one says, “more tea?” – a noun-centered question. The verb “to drink” describes the relationship between the tea and the person. In the East, people tend to use a great deal of verb-centered expressions because thoughts are built around the relationship between things. On the other hand, Westerners believe that “person” and “tea” are individual entities, and therefore express the question using the noun. When shown a picture of a screaming man and asked why the man is screaming, Easterners and Westerners answer differently. First, the Easterner says, “The atmosphere is eerie. It looks like the two people behind him have done something to him.” The Westerner says, “The person is in a state of panic. He’s feeling fear deep inside him. He seems mentally unstable.” Easterners tended to relate the state of the person to the surrounding atmosphere and situation whereas the Westerners tended to find explanations in the person’s emotional and psychological state. In other words, Easterners look at the environment and context for clues that lead to a person’s emotional state, while Westerners search inside the person for answers. The experiment on Western individualism and Eastern group mentality shows interesting results. Subjects from the East and West were given five pens – one white and four blue – to choose from. Easterners had a tendency to choose blue while Westerners tended to choose white. In the second round of pen experiments, the subjects were once again given five pens – one blue andfour white – to choose from. The Easterners generally chose white while the Westerners chose blue. The experiment spoke to the Westerners’ general desire to be distinct from others, and tomake a decision that may be considered unusual. Eastern and Western societies expect opposites from each other. While humility is a virtue in the East, the West admires the confident. The word assertive is meant to be a positive word in the Western context, but it can be perceived as negative in the East. An assertive character in the Western context is someone trustworthy who has great self-confidence whereas an Easterner may view such a person as rude and self-centered. The book reveals differences between the East and West through such interesting experiments, which will help readers gain a better understanding of “the other.” By Pyo Jeonghun
[Book for You] The Guilt of an Imperfect Vegan
[Heo Gyun]I’ve just had a nap,so it’s the perfect time for a new story. [Heo Nanseolheon]Are you even fully awake? [Heo Gyun]Don’t you know that a good story clears your head?Today, we’ve got a letter from the Philippines. Dear Team Heo,I’ve been wanting to go vegan,but it hasn’t been easy due to my lifestyle and financial situation.I share meals with the people I live with,so sticking to a vegan diet on my own is tough.Plus, many of my favorite foodscontain meat or seafood.So, I feel like a hypocrite for sayingthat I love and respect animals.What should I do?- Ember [Heo Gyun]This reminds me of No Need to Try So Hard,a collection of short stories by Choi Eunyoung.Let’s delve into the story “Goodbye, Cucu.”As a young girl, the protagonistfinds a dying chick at a playground.She takes it home, names it Cucu,and cares for it with love.When Cucu grows into a chicken,her parents suggest sending it away.Reluctantly, she says goodbye, sensing its fate.From that day on, she stops eating chicken.When asked why, she simply saysshe’s allergic to meat. [Heo Nanseolheon]She probably doesn’t want to spoil the mood. [Heo Gyun]That’s right. She was also hurt by her family,who teased her for being too attached to Cucu. But her perspective shiftswhen she meets Seon-ah, a college juniorwho, like her, doesn’t eat chicken. Unlike her, Seon-ah refuses to eat it because of the unethical ways of raising chickens.This gives her the courage to stand by her beliefs,even if some might call her a hypocrite. It may seem natural for humans to eat meat,but nothing about factory farming is natural.She believed that even animals destined for slaughterdeserve minimal standards of life while alive,hypocritical as that may sound.- Choi Eunyoung, “Goodbye, Cucu,” No Need to Try So Hard (Maumsanchaek, 2022), p. 189. [Heo Nanseolheon]People say, “A group of imperfect vegansis better than one perfect vegan.”Even making an effort to avoid meat occasionallyis a step toward a vegan lifestyle.Shouldn’t we each find our own wayto coexist with animals? [Heo Gyun]The fact that Ember is reflecting on thisand feeling conflicted showsshe’s already doing her best.When the time comes,she can practice veganism in her own way.Who could possibly call her a hypocrite? [Heo Nanseolheon]And even if it were hypocrisy, so what?In part, hypocrisy makes the world go around.Even if Ember could be deemed hypocritical,her daily resolution to uphold her beliefsdeserves praise for sure. Now it’s my turn.I’d like to share an excerpt from the poem “Let People Be Born”in Let Love Be Born by Yi Won. Let people despair. Let people be born.Let love be born. Unravel our hearts again.Our hearts.Different heartbeats gather to formOne heart.All our breaths together createA single heart.- Yi Won, “Let People Be Born,” Let Love Be Born, (Moonji, 2017) The poem suggests that everyoneis bound to face despair.Nobody has enough money, will,or strength on their own.But if our hearts keep beating through despair,true love and humanity can be born.It shows how individual efforts unite,forming “one heart” with a shared purpose. [Heo Gyun]Veganism costs a lot of money. Plant-based proteins are more expensive,not to mention harder to find. Everyone knows that!Also, it’s easy to lose resolvewhen it feels like cutting out meat on your ownwon’t make a real difference. [Heo Nanseolheon]It’s only natural for Ember to feel “despair.”But when people who share this despair unite,true solidarity through “love” and “humanity”becomes possible.No one is perfect, and that’s okay.I hope Ember keeps practicing veganismwith persistence and sincerity.The world needs people like Ember, who inspire others and help build solidarity. [Heo Gyun]In Korean, there’s a proverb that says“The first spoonful doesn’t fill you up.”No one is perfect from the start, so don’t be too hard on yourself. [Heo Nanseolheon]Being a vegan is a huge challenge. Focus on making small, gradual changes and practice veganism steadily and consistently. [Heo Gyun]I hope our advice puts Ember’s mind at ease. [Heo Nanseolheon]All right then, let’s get going. Translated by Helen Cho
[Book for You] The Guilt of an Honor Student
[Heo Gyun]I’m curious what will come our way today. [Heo Nanseolheon] These days, it seems like you’re livingfor the joy of giving book recommendations. [Heo Gyun]How did you know? Today’s story is from Algeria. Dear Team Heo,I still feel guilty about something I did in high school.We all took the same test at different times,and so took advantage of that to cheat.The first person to take the testsecretly passed the test papers to others.Since everyone else was doing it,I sent the papers to my friends too.Eventually, the teacher found outand punished the whole class, except for me,because I was a top student who always behaved.The teacher still doesn’t know I was involved,and I feel terrible about it.I regret not speaking up back then.I wish I’d just been honest.-Aby [Heo Gyun]I'm reminded of a character named Oh Chanifrom Because of One Point by Lee Sang-kwon.Like Aby, Chani is a model student burdened by guilt.Chani, aiming for medical school, scoresjust one point short of the top grade in her physics exam.Since she needs a first-grade scoreto get into medical school, she is devastated.Her academy teacher mentions that her answermight be considered correct as well.Chani files an official complaint,but Min-sik, the physics teacher, refuses to accept it,claiming the question is error-free.However, the school quietly decides to accept itas a correct answer and asks Min-sik to handle it discreetly. [Heo Nanseolheon] It must be a tough situation for Min-sik, too. [Heo Gyun]Exactly, and out of guilt, Chani starts avoiding him.She formally requests a review committee,and Min-sik agrees to take part. But on the day of the review,a student with better grades decides to move abroad.As a result, Chani automatically receives the top grade. [Heo Nanseolheon] So, she finally gets the top grade!But she’s probably left feeling a bit overwhelmed. [Heo Gyun]After some time, Chani runs into Min-sik on the street. Then she finally musters the courageto offer him a heartfelt apology. The teacher turned around and waved.After a brief pause, Chani lowered her head.Just as Min-sik was turning away, she called out,“Sir!”Tears started welling up again.“Sir, I’ll come visit you soon!”“Sure! I’ll treat you to some spicy rice cakes!”-Lee Sang-kwon, Because of One Point, (Jamobook, 2024), p. 202-203. Even after weathering the storm on his own,Min-sik never rebukes Chani.Instead, he accepts her apologyand responds with warm words.Isn’t his forgiveness and kindnessa true sign of being a grown-up? [Heo Nanseolheon] A good teacher would understand a student’s sincere feelings, no matter how much time has passed. [Heo Gyun]Aby's teacher seems like a good person, too.How about speaking your true feelings before it's too late? [Heo Nanseolheon] Now it’s my turn.I’d like to read an excerpt from the poem “Sickle” in A Knife Called a Sickle by Kim Ki-taek. The blade curvesinward. Showing its blunt back,unable to pierce,it bends inward,closer to where the heart lies. Like arms,the blade tries to embrace something.A green, round stalkand a neck lined with rising veins,stand before it.- Kim Ki-taek, “Sickle”, A Knife Called a Sickle, (Moonji, 2022) There are many ways to interpret this,but for Aby, let’s view it as a poem about guilt.Sometimes, the only way to ease a heavy heartis to confess our mistakesor resolve misunderstandings.Otherwise, guilt can become a ""sickle,""its blade curving inward, drawing closer to the heart.Eventually, that sickle might aim forthe ""neck lined with rising veins."" [Heo Gyun]The teacher might have suspected Aby’s misdeedand chosen to overlook it, but that only left her with lingering guilt. [Heo Nanseolheon] There’s no need to be afraid of coming clean!Don’t worry about disappointing your teacher.After all, it’s been a long time.Just think of it as having a casual conversation.If I’m right, the teacher will admire Aby’s couragefor offering an apology, even after all this time. [Heo Gyun]You’re right.The fact that Aby has carried this regret for so long might be enough for the teacher to understand and forgive her. [Heo Nanseolheon] Instead of carrying the burden alone, why not talk to the teacher directly? Maybe the teacher has been waitingto hear from Aby all this time.It would surely ease her heart, too. [Heo Gyun]I hope our advice gives her the courage to finally tell the truth. [Heo Nanseolheon] All right, let’s get going. Translated by Helen Cho
[Book for You] A YA Novel Reader's Guilty Pleasure
[Heo Gyun]My stomach says it’s time to eat. [Heo Nanseolheon] We’ll be receiving a letter soon.Let’s sort it out before grabbing a bite.Oh, here it is! [Heo Gyun]We have a message from Thailand today. Dear Team Heo,Even as an adult, I still enjoy YA fiction.I've been urged to read more grownup books, but I still find myself drawn to that genre.Is it okay to continue indulging in YA fiction?-Jed [Heo Gyun]I know just the book for Jed!It’s Lee Seon-ju’s short story “Choice”included in the collection Moro’s Tomorrow.In the story, YA novelist Seon-min receives a complaint email from a reader, expressing discomfort with her bookabout people opting out of marriage.As Seon-min writes a reply,she reflects on her teenage years,when she decided to become a writer.Back then, her mother was a relentless insurance salesperson, often harassing others in her pursuit.In hindsight, Seon-min realizes that her motherwas only trying to support her family. Having long understood her motheronly on a superficial level,Seon-min starts to grasp her mother’s complex emotions and circumstances.In the end, she conveys her mother’s individuality and life story through her writing. I meant to return to writing adult fiction,but even when the opportunity arose,I couldn’t do it.It felt like wearing clothes that didn’t fit.Ever since, I’ve been writingchildren’s stories and YA fiction.What drives me to write? (...)I wrote to look into myself,to comfort my past self,and to prove my existence.I wrote what I believed to be true.-Lee Seon-ju, “Choice,” Moro’s Tomorrow (Sakyejeol, 2022) 32. [Heo Nanseolheon] So Seon-min saw a hidden side of the world through her mother and grew up before her time. [Heo Gyun] That’s right. And this isn’t just Seon-min’s story.Haven't we all somehow fallen into adulthood?As you can see, YA fiction offers plenty of food for thought. [Heo Nanseolheon] It’s about time we dispelled the misconceptions about YA literature.It's much more than just simple stories in big print.It offers valuable nourishment for growthto readers of all ages. [Heo Gyun] Just as Seon-min felt like she was wearing the wrong clothes, Jed would probably feel uncomfortable forcing himself to read other genres. After all, reading is supposed to be fun. [Heo Nanseolheon] Just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you have to read anything special.Jed, just go for whatever takes your fancy.People often see life as “one straight line,” starting on the left and ending on the right. The issue is that the journey from left to rightis often dismissed as “something unfinished.” [Heo Gyun] Exactly. That way of thinkingputs ""adult fiction"" at the far right,while ""YA fiction"" in the middle gets brushed offas “immature stories” to pass by. [Heo Nanseolheon] I'd like to read an excerptfrom the poem “Happy End” by Oh Eun, which takes a positive look at what we often dismiss as a mere “process.” I want to be happy along the way.Once in the morning, once at midday,and twice in the evening.I want to feel a little excited,thinking about yesterday,living today, and waiting for tomorrow.As spring and autumn grow shorter,and summer and winter become longer.My friend leaned over the net and said:We need a “happy and,” not a “happy end.”-Oh Eun, “Happy End,” Matters of the Heart (Changbi Edu, 2020) What truly matters isn’t just a happy ending. What gives meaning to lifeis a journey filled with many “happy ands.” [Heo Gyun] Some may view YA fiction simply as “a phase” or “immature reading,” but I disagree.While it’s wise to break the habit of only seeking out easy reads,today’s YA fiction has considerable depth.So I think it’s all right. [Heo Nanseolheon] Avid readers of YA fiction must connect deeplywith young adult characters.If this experience helps Jed mature and find happiness, that’s all that really matters. [Heo Gyun] I hope Jed continues to enjoy YA fictionto his heart’s content.He can always explore other genreswhen his interest naturally shifts. [Heo Nanseolheon] That’s true. YA fiction isn’t just for young adult readers. [Heo Gyun] I hope Jed finds this message as precious as YA fiction. [Heo Nanseolheon] All right. Let’s get back on track. Translated by Helen Cho
[Book for You] A Hidden Truth about His Computer
[Heo Gyun]I can't wait to see what’s in store for us today! [Heo Nanseolheon]Doesn’t it feel amazingto help people around the world?Here’s a new message for us! [Heo Gyun]We have a message from Peru. Dear Team Heo,A year ago, I accidentally short-circuiteda colleague's computer. Thankfully, it still works, but one program is faulty. I should have apologized immediately, but I haven’t told him yet. I’m still scared. Now that a year has passed, should I finally come clean and ask for forgiveness?-Judy [Heo Gyun]No other storyhas ever given me cold sweats like this. Let’s find a book for Judy! I recommend “Plant-Based Physiognomy” by Han Eunhyung, included in the collectionSuccessful People Despite Their Character. [Heo Nanseolheon]Does the protagonist of the storyhave an experience similar to Judy's? [Heo Gyun]Like Judy, the protagonist Min-jistruggles to be honest with her co-workers. Working part-time caring for plants, she catches the eye of the ownerof the vegan restaurant Plant-Eating Tigerand becomes the manager of its Yeonnam-dong branch. However, both the owner and the restaurant only have a veneer of social consciousness and lack genuine convictions. This likely explains why the owner’s aggressive sales tactics make Min-ji uncomfortable. [Heo Nanseolheon]What sort of sales tactics are they? [Heo Gyun]Min-ji's first task is to hire a team of entirely foreign staff.The owner instructs her to createa diverse mix of nationalities and genders,reserving the last positionspecifically for a ""black"" person.However, he specifiesthat it can’t be just any black person,but someone with the tall, sleek appearanceof a French model. [Heo Nanseolheon]For all his pretenseof supporting racial diversity, he's actually more racist than anyone else. [Heo Gyun]That’s not all. Min-ji’s second task isto suggest that the other staff members move into the owner’s shared houseand subscribe to the meal service. Once again, she complies with the request. Of course, all this moneygoes straight back into the owner's pocket. The employees, who barely earn minimum wage, end up spending half their salary on rent and a quarter on the meal subscription. The shared house they lived inbelonged to the owner.It could be said that Min-ji deceivedLucas, Tam, Yulia, Haruka, and Antoine.The house was registered in someone else’s name,and the owner insisted on hiding the truth.“There’s no point in creatingunnecessary misunderstandings.”This left Min-ji feeling conflicted. -Han Eunhyung, “Plant-Based Physiognomy,” Successful People Despite Their Character (Munhakdongne, 2024), 237." [Heo Nanseolheon]I feel bad for her. Min-ji must be uneasy knowing that she has to keep deceiving her colleagues. [Heo Gyun] She justifies her deception of othersas a way to make a living.But it causes her a lot of inner turmoil.I’ll let Judy find out how it all ends. [Heo Nanseolheon]Emotional burdens can take their toll.I can only imaginewhat Judy must have been throughover the past year.If I had been there, I would have given hera reassuring pat on the back and said, ""It's okay!"" [Heo Gyun] Didn't she say that the computer works fineexcept for one program? If a year has passed without any issues, her colleague might not consider it a big deal. [Heo Nanseolheon]In situations like this, sometimes it’s best to just let it go.But if it continues to weigh on your mind, mustering the courage to speak upis another option. For Judy, I’d like to share my favorite part from the poem ""Now"" by Kim Un. Speak now. If you wait until later, things will change. What you once said will also change. Speak now. About what you’re saying now. How you say it and why. Speak about “now” without reason or context. “Now” is the standard. “Now” is changing. Speak before it shifts. Speak as it changes, and speak after it has changed. Speak about “now.” If not now, then speak even now. Speak before it passes. Speak even for a moment. “Now” is fleeting. “Now” is absolute. Speak about that. -Kim Un, “Now,” One Sentence (Munji Publishing, 2018). Aren't you curious about when this “now” is?In fact, it represents a fluid momentthat's difficult to define or pinpoint.I believe the relativity of ""now""can give Judy more freedom.Since she’s reading this poem “now,”a year after the short-circuit incident,it’s not too late for her to apologize ""now,"" is it? [Heo Gyun] I agree. The moment Judy musters the courage to speak to her colleague will be her ""now."" If she decides to seek forgiveness, she should act before that ""now"" slips away. [Heo Nanseolheon]I'm not urging Judy to speak up ""soon"".But I want to emphasize thatif she has something to sayshe should definitely come out with it.Perhaps she can share her feelingswhen she's ready to do so sincerely. [Heo Gyun]Even after a year, her continued concern shows that she genuinely feels remorse.What matters is whether she decides to let it goor chooses to speak the truth. [Heo Nanseolheon]Either way, I’d like to send my best wishes to Judy, who must have had a tough year. [Heo Gyun]I hope this message helps her make the right decision. [Heo Nanseolheon]All right. Let’s get going again. Translated by Helen Cho
[Book for You] Unusual Craving
(On a boat at sea) [Heo Gyun]The weather is simply glorious.A perfect day for book recommendations. [Heo Nanseolheon]That's right. I nearly forgot.It looks like we’re getting a letter [Heo Gyun]This one has come all the way from Algeria. Dear Team Heo,I’ve had a weird habit since I was little.I like eating things that aren’t exactly good for me,like dirt, especially sandy dirt, and paper.I used to munch on the notebooks that my dad bought me.And honestly, they still taste great.I’m excited to find the right book to snack on. - Cha [Heo Gyun]Let’s find a book that might help Cha. I’ve got it! Kim Hee-jin’s novel No Matter How Strange would be perfect. It centers on Jeong Hae-jin,who suffers from OCD, and the lives of those tied to her workplace, Insomnia Convenience Store. [Heo Nanseolheon]What is “Insomnia Convenience Store”? [Heo Gyun]The store owner has insomnia.So instead of lying awake in bed,he chose to open a convenience store.As it turns out, it’s a strange placewhere truly unusual people gather [Heo Nanseolheon]Really? Is there someonewith a quirky habit like Cha? [Heo Gyun]Of course! The protagonist, Jeong Hae-jin,who works part-time at the convenience store,believes in a ton of superstitions,like never stepping on manhole covers,thinking she’ll have bad luckif she doesn’t see her neighbor in the morning,and always rinsing her face exactly 19 times. [Heo Nanseolheon]She’s definitely one of a kind! [Heo Gyun]It doesn’t stop there. There’s Ahn Seung-ri,who keeps failing auditions;Mark, who hasn’t returned to the UK in seven yearsafter having a panic attack at the airport;and Su-jin, a playwrightsurrounded by countless clocks, lost in their ticking.Everyone at the Insomnia Convenience Storehas their own strange habitsand deep, inexplicable shadows. Still, they support and understand each other, finding joy in life. As the story unfolds, they inspire one another to face new challenges and let go of their superstitions. They might turn up in a rather odd outfit. But don’t be too quick to judge. They're completely normal! -Kim Hee-jin, No Matter How Strange (Jamobook, 2021), 134. [Heo Nanseolheon]Even if they seem a bit odd to others,it’s heartwarming how they embrace each other with kindness and affection. [Heo Gyun] Even if it’s not just paper and dirt,we all have our quirky eating habits.Whether related to food or not,everyone has their own peculiarities.So, here’s my message to Cha.As long as your eating habits aren’t harmful,enjoy them! We’re all a bit strangein our own ways,so there’s no need to feel odd.It’d be wonderful to have friendswho fully accept your habits.Even I, all the way in Korea, ate paper as a kid,so you might find someone similar nearby. [Heo Nanseolheon]It's my turn now. I’d like to share Lee Hyun-seung’s poetry collectionAn Answer and a Request at Once.I appreciate people’s unique traits.Distinctive behaviors and attitudeshelp shape one’s personal style.But if health is compromised, what good is individuality?With that in mind, I’d like to read an excerptfrom the poem “Birthday Wish”included in this collection. When making a wish,you’re granted only one,so you wish for health.People in love wish to do so much together,but it’s impossible to do it all at once;that’s why you become family.As you share meals and mirror each other's expressions,you start to resemble one another.Did you know that people in loveoften begin to look alike?I want to create dishesthat make people resemble each other. -Lee Hyun-seung, “Birthday Wish,” An Answer and a Request at Once, (Munhakdongne, 2021). As in many cultures,the birthday person makes a heartfelt wishwhile blowing out the candles,usually for the health of their loved ones.Family members “wish to do so much together,but it’s impossible to do it all at once,”so they wish for each other’s well-being.To share daily life with loved ones,we must live long and healthy lives.That’s why the poem’s narrator wants to cookwhile wishing for the health of their loved ones. [Heo Gyun]Eating dirt or paper may not be healthy, so it’s important to be cautious. A small taste might be fine, but I hesitate to give this advice. [Heo Nanseolheon]That's true. Notebooks and books undergo extensive chemical processing,and you can’t be surewhere the dirt comes from.I’d advise against consuming large amounts. [Heo Gyun]I also ate paper when I was young.I’d nibble on colored paper in secret,and the taste still lingersin my nose and on my tongue.Each color had its own distinct flavor.We all have our own quirky habits like that. [Heo Nanseolheon]True. I don’t find it strange to take joyin the taste of dirt and paper,and I respect that.These unique experienceshave likely shaped Cha’s identity.However, I hope it doesn’t go too farand negatively affect health. [Heo Gyun]You might tear off a corner of this scroll to eat.But in any case, I hope it helps. [Heo Nanseolheon]Now, let's be on our way. Translated by Helen Cho
[Book for You] A Story She Hid from Her Husband
(On a boat at sea) [Heo Gyun]The weather is great and so is my mood. [Heo Nanseolheon]I bet the messenger bird is happy too. [Heo Gyun]This one is from Indonesia. [Heo Nanseolheon]Let’s have a look. Dear Team Heo,I'm a 34-year-old woman,who recently became passionate about writing.I’ve written a story based on my first love,but my husband thinks it's fictional.Should I come clean and tell him the truth?- Siti Uliyah [Heo Gyun]That's a tricky one to answer. [Heo Nanseolheon]She must be in a major dilemma.She’s even reached out to us for advice. [Heo Gyun]It’s a tough nut to crack.Still, this book will probably help.I’d recommend “The Lingering Feelings”from Waiting for Sunlight by Park Seonwoo. [Heo Nanseolheon]What is the story about? [Heo Gyun]The first-person protagonist is a man.He’s been with his boyfriend for 100 days.Whenever his boyfriend is away, he searchesfor a woman named Su-kyeong on social media. [Heo Nanseolheon]So is Su-kyeong his first love? [Heo Gyun]Not exactly. She’s a former coworkerwith whom the protagonist had a special bond.She’s the first person he confided in abouthis sexual identity, but thinking of her stirs uppainful memories he wants to erase.He wonders if it’s necessary to revisit the past,once and for all, in order to move forward.So, he tells his boyfriend about Su-kyeong,saying he wants to reflect on her one last timeby writing a story about her. The boyfriend says,"Sounds good," and goes back to his book,leaving him feeling both lonely and comforted. I’ve realized there’re stories I can’t share,even with the person I’m most honest with.And even if I manage to tell them,I must accept that my protagonistwon’t always stay by my side.-Park Seonwoo, "Lingering Feelings," Waiting for Sunshine (Munhakdongne, 2022) 40. [Heo Nanseolheon]If your partner responds with such a curt replyafter you’ve mustered up the courageto talk about someone weighing on your heart,it’s only natural to feel that way. [Heo Gyun]Siti, if you love your husband,you may want to be honest with him,like the protagonist in the novel.But if your husband is the jealous type,it may be better to keep it as your secret. [Heo Nanseolheon]My catch is Choi Ji-eun's poetry collection,Spring Night Is Ending and the Poem Is Too Short.I'd like to read an excerpt from the poem“In the Summer You Walk Alone.” I’m a suicide survivor.When the sound of my father’s halted call,from years ago in the summer,suddenly fills my mind,I, too, feel the urge to give up.A summertime in a daze.Yet somehow,the love that holds me backendures within my summer as well.- Choi Ji-eun, “In the Summer You Walk Alone,” Spring Night Is Ending and The Poem Is Too Short (Changbi, 2021) The narrator admits there are momentswhen they want to give up on life,burdened by the guilt of missingtheir father’s final call.But they find peace by recalling the lovethat dispels such dark thoughts.For readers, it likely doesn’t matterwhether the narrator is Choi Ji-eun herself.When a writer consciously distances themselvesfrom their work, it allows for more honestand liberated writing.Siti should feel free to write in the same way,without constraints. [Heo Gyun]However, when writing about your first love,be mindful not to disrespect that person. [Heo Nanseolheon]In any case, the question of howto authentically weave personal storiesinto one’s work is a challenge many writers face.I hope you take the time to reflect on it. [Heo Gyun]I encourage you to reflect on why you wishto write about your first love.I understand if it’s simply to processunresolved feelings.However, consider whether you’re using itmerely as material for your work.Writing about someone else’s experiencesrequires a thoughtful approach. [Heo Nanseolheon]No matter which path you choose, trust yourself and give it your all! [Heo Gyun]May fortune smile upon your choice. [Heo Nanseolheon]All right. Let’s continue our journey. Translated by Helen Cho
READINGS A poetry Reading by Poet Oh Eun “That”
READINGS A Short Story Reading by Novelist Kim Ae-ran: "They Said Annyeong"
READINGS A Poetry Reading by Poet Jin Eun-young "In Houyhnhnmland"