NOPF Road Show: East Bank Regional Library, Metairie, LA

The New Orleans Poetry Festival takes the show on the road in 2024. In partnership with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the Literature Translation Institute of Korea, and Jefferson Parish Library, this event features Korean poets Ha Jaeyoun and Hwang Yuwon, translator and poet Jake Levine, and three poets from Louisiana: Rodrigo Toscano, Bernardo Wade, and Christine Kwon. These poets will perform their work and take part in a brief Q&A. Free and open to the public, this event will take place on Wednesday, April 17th, 7pm at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave, Metairie, LA 70001. More events at https://nolapoetry.com/

Ha Jaeyoun started her career in 2002 when she received the award for best new poet from the journal <문학과 사회Literature and Society>. She received a PhD in Modern Korean Literature from Korea University for her research in 1930’s Korean poetry. She also was the recipient of the 3rd Yeongnam-ilbo Ku Sang Literature prize.

She is the author of the poetry collections, <라디오 데이즈Radio Days> (Moonji, 2006), <세계의 모든 해변처럼Like all the Beaches in the World> (Moonji, 2012), and <우주적인 안녕Universal Hello> (Moonji, 2019). She is also the author of the research books <근대시의 모험과 움직이는 조선어Adventures of Modern Poetry and Moving Chosun Language> (Somyeong Press, 2012), <문학의 상상과 시의 실천The Imagination of Literature and the Action of Poetry> (Bogosa, 2022), <무한한 역설의 사랑Infinite Love of Paradox> (Bogosa, 2022) and the collection of essays <내게 와 어두워진 빛들에게To the darkened lights by the coming of me> (Moonji, 2023).

English translations of her poems appeared in Poems of Hwang Yuwon, Ha Jaeyoun, & Seo Dae-kyung (Edited & Introduced by Jake Levine, Vagabond Press, 2020). In addition, the poetry collection Radion days was published in English(Translated by Sue Hyon Bae, Black Ocean, 2023). After the pandemic started began a series of poems that she has been publishing called “언데드Undead.” and “종의 기원The Origin of Species”.

Hwang Yuwon is a poet, translator. He is the author of 4 collections of poetry, White Deer Lake, Supernatural 3D Printing, You Should See Me in a Crown, and Everything in the World, Maximized. He translates poetry and novels from English to Korean. Among them are The Lyrics: 1961-2012 by Bob Dylan, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter, and Glass, Irony & God by Anne Carson.

Jake Levine is an assistant professor of Creative Writing at Keimyung University. He has written and translated or co-translated over a dozen books, including Kim Yideum’s Hysteria (Action Books, 2019) which was the first book to be awarded both the National Translation Award and the Lucien Stryk Prize. He is a former Fulbright Fellow (to Lithuania in 2010), a recipient of a Korean Government Scholarship, served as an assistant editor at Acta Koreana, as a poetry editor at Spork Press, as the managing editor and editor-in-chief at Sonora Review, and currently edits the award-winning contemporary Korean poetry series, Moon Country, at Black Ocean. He has also translated other cultural contents such as Yun Hyong-Keun’s diaries and narration for the K-pop group ENHYPEN. His first full-length book of poetry The Imagined Country is out with Tolsun Books in 2023.

Rodrigo Toscano is a poet and essayist based in New Orleans. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest two books are The Cut Point (Counterpath, 2023), The Charm & The Dread (Fence Books, 2022). His previous books include In Range, Explosion Rocks Springfield, Deck of Deeds, Collapsible Poetics Theater (a National Poetry Series selection), To Leveling Swerve, Platform, Partisans, andThe Disparities. His poetry has appeared in over 20 anthologies, including Best American Poetry and Best American Experimental Poetry (BAX).  Toscano has received a New York State Fellowship in Poetry. He won the Edwin Markham 2019 prize for poetry. He works for the Labor Institute in conjunction with the United Steelworkers, the National Institute for Environmental Health Science, National Day Laborers Organizing Network educational / training projects that involve environmental and labor justice culture transformation. rodrigotoscano.com

Born & raised in New Orleans, Bernardo Wade tries at poems, catches elbows on the court, & rides his bike around Bloomington, IN, because IU funds his present period of studying with others. He currently serves as Editor & CNF Editor of Indiana Review. Though he’s published in a bunch of literary journals no one in his family has ever heard of, they remain proud of him, especially when they are featured in the poems. He’s infatuated with Ed Roberson’s question, “Can you O.D. on life?” Check out his website: bernardowade.com

Christine Kwon is the author of A Ribbon the Most Perfect Blue (Southeast Missouri State University Press, 2023). She is the winner of the 2022 Cowles Poetry Book Prize. Her poems are forthcoming in The Harvard Advocate, Copper Nickel, The Xavier Review, and Annulet. Follow her work on christinekwonwrites.com or on Instagram @theschooloflonging. She lives in a yellow house on Saint Roch.