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Quote by Deborah Smith

“Whenever I visit Korea she [Kang] buys me lunch and takes me to a gallery. As if all this wasn't enough, she has incredible respect for translation as a creative, artistic practice - she insists that each English version is 'our book', offered to share her fees with me when she found out I wasn't getting paid for translating her publicity stuff, always asks the editor to credit me, and does so herself whenever she's interviewed. Too good to be true.”

Author

Deborah Smith

Deborah Smith, born in 1955, is an accomplished author whose works have gained widespread popularity. She is known for her unique narrative style and profound thematic explorations. more

“Alongside Han Kang, there's only one other author I've chosen to translate so far - Bae Suah. Her work is radical both stylistically and politically, influenced by her own translation practice (she's translated the likes of Kafka, Pessoa, and Sadeq Hedayat into Korean). Her language is simply extraordinary.”

Language Practice Extraordinary Likes Chosen Radical Translate Translations Korean Bae

Author:Deborah Smith

“I think folks need to understand the whole background of Donald Trump. I find from time to time, I talk to people about the campaign and they say, gosh, I didn't know that Donald Trump gave a bunch of money to Jimmy Carter and to Hillary Clinton and to Harry Reid and to John Kerry.”

People Thinking Knows Needs Whole Trump Clinton Folks Campaigns Backgrounds Bunch Jimmy Carter John Kerry

Author:Mitt Romney

“I first came across her [Bae Suah] when I read some elderly male critic castigating her for 'doing violence to the Korean language', which of course was catnip to me, especially as I'd recently discovered Lispector doing pretty much the same to Portuguese.”

Firsts Courses Language Violence Critics Males Elderly Korean Portuguese Bae

Author:Deborah Smith

“I've translated two of Bae's novels, A Greater Music and Recitation, which are coming from Open Letter and Deep Vellum in October and January respectively. A Greater Music is a semi-autobiographical book centred on a Korean writer moving to Berlin, learning to live and even write in a foreign language.”