I think it has a great potential to touch people. (I mean, I remember chatting with you that day and talking about all sorts of other things…) I’m really excited about this book. Do you have any predictions for The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly: A Novel? In all of my translations, I aim to create a text in English that will allow the English reader to have the same emotions and experience as the Korean reader.Ĥ) And what is your strategy to achieve it?Ī lot of editing! And finding the right tone is critical.ĥ) I don’t know if you recall, but many years ago we met at COEX in Seoul and you predicted the success of Please Look After Mom, even speculating that it might be an Oprah Book. To prepare I read a number of recent, highly regarded children’s literature in English.ģ) Very briefly, what is your translation goal? The right tone was a little elusive at first, because it’s a simple, austere story. It was pretty quick, but then again it’s a slim book. The editor who acquired this book contacted me in April of last year and I submitted the final manuscript in October. It’s the ultimate story of celebrating your uniqueness and the art of letting go.Ģ) What was your translation process on this book, and how long did it take? The two navigate the world around them as they learn to deal with their differences and their dreams for life. She ends up leaving the coop and surviving on her own, and becomes the mother to a duckling. This novel follows a feisty hen who wants a bigger life for herself: she wants to lay and hatch an egg.

With that update, here is the interview with Kim, whichġ) Tell us The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly: A Novel the book you just finished translating? It will be published by Mantle (Macmillan) in the UK.” She also has the next translation in her sights, and when it becomes official we’ll be happy to pass that info along here. It was published as 별을 스치는 바람 (Ed’s Note: The wind brushing a star/The wind which brushes a star 1) last year. How busy is she? Chi-Young tells us that, “My next translation will be coming out next year: T he Investigation by Jung-myung Lee. class, who are extremely interested in Kim’s experience and advice). Chi-Young Kim, translator extraordinaire ( Please Look After Mom and Your Republic is Calling You, among a string of triumphs) and sometime chum of KTLIT, took time out of her busy schedule to do an interview with KTLIT (actually, an interview for the students in my Ph.D.

The hen that dreamed she could fly