56th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards

The Korea Times is inviting translators from around the world to participate in the 56th Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards.

Since 1970, The Korea Times has been dedicated to recognizing excellence in literary translation and promoting Korean literature to a global readership through this annual competition. Many of the leading translators and scholars working in the field today began their careers as winners of the Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, and The Korea Times looks forward to ushering in a new generation of skilled translators in the years to come.

The annual competition awards English translations of works of contemporary Korean literature in two categories: fiction/drama and poetry.

Submission Guidelines 

Applicants may submit a translation of 1) a work of fiction or drama or 2) 10 poems by the same poet. Applicants should submit only one entry in either category.

Fiction/Drama 

Candidates should submit an English translation of one work of fiction (a novel, novella or short story) or a play. The first publication date of the original Korean work should be 1980 or later. Longer works will not automatically be given preference, although some credit will be given for the additional effort involved. A translation of one portion of a long novel will be considered on the condition that it presents at least a third of the complete novel and the translator plans to translate the entire work.

Poetry

Candidates should submit English translations of 10 poems, all by the same poet. The original poems should have been first published in or after 1980.

General Rules 

Translations should be sent before Aug. 31, 2025, as email attachments in PDF format to ktimes.translation@gmail.com with the subject “The Korea Times Translation Awards.”

The translator's name, telephone number, mailing address and email address must be given in the body of the email with their submission. However, their names and identifying information must not appear in any part of the text or file of the translation.

The Korean originals should be scanned and submitted as an attached PDF file along with the translations; if this is impossible for some reason, one hard copy must be mailed to the K-Culture Desk at The Korea Times by the same due date.

In both categories, the jury will be looking for accurate and persuasive translations that attempt to render in English the literary merit of significant works of contemporary literature.

Translations submitted must not have been published in any form before the deadline set for submissions. Works that have previously been published in English translation must not be translated again for the contest.

Candidates are not required to obtain the author's permission before translating and submitting the work for consideration. However, it is strongly advised that anyone intending to translate, especially a full-length work, should contact the author — through the publisher if necessary — before getting started, to ask whether permission could be granted or whether another translator is already working on it. Gaining permission is the responsibility of the translator and The Korea Times is not responsible for any legal disputes that may arise.

Previous winners of The Korea Times Modern Literature Translation Awards are not eligible to submit entries in the same category. Entries for this competition must not be submitted to any other translation contest in the same year.

Winners will be announced in The Korea Times in November.

The jury’s decision will be final and no correspondence concerning it will be entered into.

All copyrights in submissions and prize-winning works belong to the translators, but portions of the award-winning entries may be published in The Korea Times.

For inquiries: The Korea Times K-Culture Desk at 02-724-2353 or ktimes.translation@gmail.com.