Author: Mah Chonggi
Translated by: Cho Young-shil
Publisher: Homa + Sekey, 2022
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The collection consists of the author’s monologues and narrative poems, and a single dialogue between him and his young son. Contemporary America, Korea of old and new, and parts of world are the setting. His poems are a mixture of components that shows sweetness, beauty, sadness, easiness and honesty that no one can reject.
Experiences as a medical doctor, remarkable as they were for a poet, and diasporic life, the greatest conflict for a poet, make up the basic motif of his poems; Ma nonetheless takes in such intense experiences to distill into beautiful, warm, and fine lyricism, by means of lucid intellect and fine-tuned language. Invisible Land of Love is the fruit of his poetic world striking even a fresher note in the height of his Parnassian attainment.
About the Author
A Korean physician living and working in America, Chonggi Mah has developed a unique literary voice echoing behind each line. Earlier in 1959 he made his debut as a poet through Hyundae Munhak, thereafter published several poetry collections including Quiet Triumph (1960), Second Winter (1965), Borderland Flower (1976), Invisible Land of Love (1980), Are Reeds the Only Ones That Live Together (1986), Color of That Country (1991), Eyes of Dew (1997), You Can Smell Tree in Birds’ Dream (2002), and others. He has received the Korean Literary Award, the Pyunwoon Literature Award, the Yeesan Literature Award, the East-West Literature Award, among others.
About the Translator
Youngshil Cho holds a Master of English & English Literature from Chonnam University, Korea. A recipient of numerous grants for her English translation of modern Korean literature, she has translated and published six contemporary Korean poetry books including Paper by Shin Dal-Ja (Codhill Press, 2018) and Forty Two Greens by Chonggi Mah (Codhill Press, 2020).
Source: publisher’s website