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Flowers of a Moment
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Gary gives an overview of the book:

Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizè, Young-moo Kim, and Gary Gach   Brush drawings by the poet, for this edition Flowers of a Moment, Ko Un's latest treasure trove, is a recital of a stunning range of feeling, intellection, and expression featuring 180 brief zen poems from Korea's most beloved poet and four-time Nobel Prize nominee. These are intimate sketches by a literary giant at the apex of his career, in the autumn of his life. The effect of these poems is as subtle as the freshest green tea, as tonic as the best ginseng, as powerful as a shaman drum solo, as intimate as a standing before a waterfall. This edition also features a dozen inkbrush calligraphies by the poet, done especially for the english-language edition. "Bodhisattva of Korean poetry, exuberant, demotic, abundant, obsessed with poetic creation... Ko Un is a magnificent...
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Translated from Korean by Brother Anthony of Taizè, Young-moo Kim, and Gary Gach

 

Brush drawings by the poet, for this edition

Flowers of a Moment, Ko Un's latest treasure trove, is a recital of a stunning range of feeling, intellection, and expression featuring 180 brief zen poems from Korea's most beloved poet and four-time Nobel Prize nominee. These are intimate sketches by a literary giant at the apex of his career, in the autumn of his life. The effect of these poems is as subtle as the freshest green tea, as tonic as the best ginseng, as powerful as a shaman drum solo, as intimate as a standing before a waterfall. This edition also features a dozen inkbrush calligraphies by the poet, done especially for the english-language edition.

"Bodhisattva of Korean poetry, exuberant, demotic, abundant, obsessed with poetic creation... Ko Un is a magnificent poet, combination of Buddhist cognoscente, passionate political libertarian, and naturalist historian."-- Allen Ginsberg

 

Hear Gary Gach launch the title at Moe's Books, Berkeley: the streaming  audio archive at RedRoom.com.

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In the old days, poets used to say

the nation is lost

yet the mountains and rivers still survive

Nowadays poets say

the mountains and rivers are lost

yet the nation still survives

Tomorrow poets will say

Alas

the mountains and rivers are lost

the nation is lost

you

and I are all lost

gary-g-gach's picture

Translator's comment:
Like snowflakes, no poem is like another. There is no "order" here other than one after another, and then, and next ... traversing an amplitude and grace equal to the universe, and your own life.

About Gary

RedRoom's smallest author, this scale photo of his countenance is, believe it or not, actual size.  There he is, with his little cap, and his little twinkly eyes. 

 

Although he weighs less than a box of books, he is, like you or me, susceptible to...

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Published Reviews

Jan.30.2010

You may find these to be times when despair and withdrawal seem to be the only rational answers....

Author's Publishing Notes

Lannan Translation Selection Series