Park No-hae's 'Dawn of Labor' published in English in US

The original cover of poet Park No-hae's debut poetry collection 'Dawn of Labor' from 1984, alongside the English version released by the University of Hawaii Press. Courtesy of Slow Walk

The English version of "Dawn of Labor," the iconic poetry collection by Korean poet Park No-hae, has been published in the United States by the University of Hawaii Press, publisher Slow Walk said.

Originally published in 1984, the collection, written by a 27-year-old anonymous "faceless" factory worker at the time, shook Korean society with its powerful depiction of the working-class struggle. Despite being banned by the authoritarian Chun Doo-hwan regime, the collection sold over a million copies.

The raw and gritty lines, such as "For our hope and unity / We turn and pour / a cold glass of soju over our dawn-worn hearts," captured the rawness of the working-class struggle and became symbolic of labor literature in the 1980s.

The University of Hawaii Press, an Asia-Pacific research publishing house, expressed its desire to publish the poetry collection in English in 2021, according to Slow Walk.

Poet Park No-hae / Courtesy of Slow Walk

In 2001, during a student protest at Harvard University against low wages for campus workers, the poetry collection was read.

Scott Swaner, Harvard University's first doctor of Korean literature, who translated and shared the collection during the protest, said that among the students participating in the protest, "Longing" was the most popular poem from the collection.

The English translation of "Dawn of Labor" was undertaken by Brother Anthony, a professor emeritus at Sogang University.

A graduate of Oxford University, he settled in Korea in 1994 after meeting the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan and has translated literary works by Kim Dong-ri, Seo Jeong-ju and others into English.

In the preface of the English edition, the University of Hawaii Press emphasized that the translation marks a significant moment in world literature and labor movement history.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.