Fruit of Life

Kim Myeong-sun is Korea's first published woman writer. Fruit of Life: Poems (생명의 과실: 김명순 시선) is the first book-length, Korean-to-English translation of her poetry. Kim’s poems offer a raw portrait of 1920s–30s Korea, driven by her personal experiences of sexual assault, misogynistic journalism and criticism, displacement, and poverty during the Japanese colonial occupation (1910– 1945). Alongside feminist and anti-colonial critique, Kim also writes about sapphic desire, familial affection, and nature, in styles that range from the traditional to the experimental. While Kim’s work was erased from the canon by Korea’s misogynistic literary establishment, Fruit of Life celebrates the legacy of Kim’s radical, versatile poetry, which paved the way for contemporary Korean women writers like Kim Hyesoon and Han Kang.

English-Korean Bilingual Edition 
영-한 이중언어판

This book is published with the support of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea).

한국 여성 최초로 작품집을 출간한 김명순(1896–1954?) 작가가 『생명의 과실: 김명순 시선』으로 영어권 독자들을 만난다. 1920–30년대 조선 사회의 민낯을 강렬하고 가감 없는 언어로 담아낸 김명순의 시는, 식민지배에 대한 저항, 가부장제의 폭력에 맞선 여성 연대, 여성 간 유대와 애정, 그리고 사랑이 지닌 무한한 힘을 노래한다.