Julie Sohn

Julie Sohn is a newcomer in translation, currently living in Seoul with her husband and two sons. Born and raised in Chicago, she studied English at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and earned a master's degree in international studies from Yonsei University.

Nobel laureate Han Kang's book “The Vegetarian” triggered her interest in Korean literature, when she read the book a few years ago. This sparked her interest in the increasing number of translations of Korean literature.

Despite the lack of confidence in her Korean skills, her growing love for Korean literature inspired her to challenge herself with translation for the first time to compete in the awards.

“This competition was the first time that I took the step towards becoming a translator, and I am so thankful to receive this honor as it has given me the encouragement I need to further explore this field and someday join the esteemed community of incredibly talented translators,” she said.

Sohn translated Choi Seung-ho's poetry collection “The Snowman Suicide Incident” to enter the competition for this award.

She shared that it was the first Korean language book she read and chose the book as a token of appreciation for introducing her to the world of Korean poetry.

“After having read many translated works of Korean literature, I wanted to attempt to read Korean literature in its original language and thought that a collection of poetry would be a good place to start,” she said.

To deliver the author's authentic tone and message throughout the collection, Sohn contemplated incorporating the original author's voice and style in each poem, which was the most challenging.

“It was important to me that I convey each poem's message through the author's voice so that they, while each their own work of art, can seamlessly stand together as a collection,” she said.

This became especially as important for her as she believes a good translator should not only accurately translate texts but also embrace the emotions that the original text evokes.

“I believe that a good translation is able to not only deliver the message but also the emotions that come with the message,” she said, adding translations that bring good literature to a global audience have never been needed more these days.

“It is undeniable that we live in particularly turbulent times, and I believe that literature is more important than ever. When it seems like people are growing increasingly divided, I hope that the availability of literature from all around the world by people from all walks of life will allow us to find our way back to humanity. This is why the work that translators do is so important and necessary, and I would like to express my gratitude to all those translators who serve as bridges to people everywhere.”