How to spend time with poetry, by Chong Hyon-jong

Looking back on the literary life of Chong Hyon-jong, a poet representing modern Korean Poetry, you can learn important things about poetry reading and writing through his thoughts and representative works.

This Class Is For :

• Those who want to become poets

• Those who want to hear Chong Hyon-jong's poems read out loud by the poet himself

• People who want to know why poetry translation is difficult and what needs to be kept in mind to achieve an ideal translation

• Those who want to know the stories behind Chong Hyon-jong's major poetic works

CREATOR STORY

Without poetry, there is no glance, no clear progression, as willed.

Things in the world don't bloom.

Meeting someone in life is / Something that's actually astonishing.'

'I want to cross over to that island.'

'There's not a lot of time to love.'

You may not enjoy the genre of poetry but the lines introduced earlier might be familiar.

Poet Chong Hyon-jong's works such as <That Every Moment Is a Flower Bud>, <Island>, <A Visitor>, etc. have touched our emotions with new feelings over the generation.

Chong Hyon-jong who made his debut through Contemporary Literature in 1965 won the Yeonam Literary Award in 1990 with <A Flimsy Sadness Crowded with People>, the Yi Sang Literary Award with <Blossom> in 1992, the Contemporary Literature Award with <A Tiger on My Shoulder> in 1995, Daesan Literary Awards with <Trees of the World> in 1996, and the Midang Literary Awards <I Can't Stand It> in 2001.

He also taught numerous writers at universities. His students include novelist Song Sokze, poet Ra Heeduk, and poet Gi Hyeong-do(deceased).

Chong Hyon-jong emphasizes the need to present well-fermented poetry to the world, rather than poems that are uttered on the spur of the moment.

His class contains his philosophy on poetry which he has accumulated for the past 55 years.

Time with Chong Hyon-jong, who is still stimulated by all things, will be a valuable opportunity to awaken the soul of poets to create a "well-written" poem, and for bringing out poetry hidden in all of us.

Q & A

Q. What do you think is the essence of 'poetry'?

According to my—let's say poetic theory—one of the main things about poetry is that it addresses lightness. Art, I say, does the job of freeing us from the heaviness and freeing us from such earthly burdens. Poetry is what makes our hearts light, fly, and soar up. That's what we go through when we read poetry, and that's what good poems do. To give our spirits wings and to make them soar into the sky.

Q. Should a poet who writes good works have innate talent?

As one of the things I always say, childhood is the source of someone's artistic talent. Everything you touch and eat. Nature that you explore through your senses such as touch, taste, sight, etc. I think that those days probably implanted some vividness or vitality of something like that in me. So, what makes a good work is what the person experienced as a child. The things that happened at that time will become the root of that person's soul. You combine that with experiences and learnings in life and, that is what becomes the source of well-written poetry. (Revisit the meaning while listening to his reciting of the poem <Song in Honor of the Fountain>)

Q. They say that there is a poem that you recite often. Which poem is that?

There are works that I read out loud relatively often. They are poems that are particularly musical and rhythmical. When reading poems aloud, the main focus should not be on delivering the meaning of the poems, but it should be the reading aloud itself. That means the essence is not the meaning, but it should be the person's voice, intonation, rhythm, and expression because seeing these things is more important when watching someone read aloud. One of the things I often say is that even poorly written poems can turn into great pieces of work if recited well. And that means a magnificent piece of work might not shine well if recited poorly. I think that is the nature of reading aloud. (Feel the rhythmic rhyme through the reading of <In Praise of Thunder>)

Q. Is there a specific way you wanted the readers to receive your poetry, or is there a message you wanted to tell?

That cannot be said. The same is true of all poetry, not just mine, but other people's works as well. To all work, there is always more to it than when it was first created. I think it's almost infinite. However, if the author defines the meaning or the purpose, it limits this possibility of something becoming infinite. So, that should remain unspoken. What's the use of writing a poem if no one reads it? Not only reading but also being moved or liking it. There is nothing more enjoyable than that.