Fiction Grand Prize winner Nohé Yeon

Nohé Yeon, whose real name is Noh Hye-yeon, is a Korean-English translator studying at Ewha Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation.

Noh's eclectic background paved the way for her career in translation. Born and raised in Korea, she initially pursued architecture at Carnegie Mellon University before returning to Korea, where she switched her academic focus to filmmaking at Dongguk University.

Her professional journey included a stint in the film industry and tutoring English writing for a few years.

She completed her undergraduate studies in English Language and Literature at Ewha Womans University. For her graduate studies, she is currently working on translating nine poems by Lee Sung-mi and Lee Su-myeong.

Noh got into literary translation after taking a class in the subject at school. But she said she has always been fond of literature, adding that creative writing is her favorite.

“To me, creative writing is something I enjoy, while translation feels like work. And it's the best when your work becomes something you enjoy. I've found that literary translation is the closest to that,” she said. “Also, I quickly lose interest in almost everything, but literature has never been one of them ever since I started to love it.”

Noh translated the short story, “SAKUTEIKI,” by novelist Kim Ji-yeon for the translation contest.

Her literary translation professor, Jamie Chang, introduced Noh to the novelist when she was assigned to translate one of Kim's stories for the class. She said she was drawn to the title of the short story.

“While reading the entire book, I could relate to all of the stories in so many ways. I could have picked just any story from the book because they were all good and seemed fun to translate. I chose ‘SAKUTEIKI' for its title, to be honest. I found it to be appealing,” she said.

As a non-native English speaker, she confessed to having constant doubts about her translation, feeling like a colorblind painter at times.

“I know when and how certain words, expressions, and vernaculars are used; I can choose a better word according to the context. But those are all learned. I don't think I ever instinctively feel the language while using it, not entirely,” she said.

But when she learned to accept that deficiency as one of her attributes, she found a new aspect of translation.

“There are things that only translated poems can offer. The same goes for painters who are not good with colors. They perceive and project colors differently from other painters, creating a unique form of art,” she said.

“In that sense, I believe, or want to believe, that there are things that only translators like myself can create.”

Noh noted that a good work of translation requires an adept sense of perception and emotion.

“I believe good translation happens when it is supported by good perception and emotional depth to see the bigger picture and equally good sensitivity to discern the smallest details, when the two go hand in hand,” she said.