Translator Aya Karem won the Korean Literature Translation Award for the year 2020 organized by the Korean Center for Literary Translation from May 1 to June 26, for her translation of the novel (Courtyard of a Tomb) by Korean writer Hwang Jung-un.
Director of the Korean Culture Centre in Cairo Yang Sang said that the Arabic language was included for the first time among the main languages of the award, which include English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese. This move would enhance the translation movement between the Korean and Arabic languages.
Sang expressed his happiness that the first Egyptian translator won this award, which aims to discover new translators of Korean literature in various languages. He said that he is looking forward to translating more Korean literary works into Arabic.
The number of works participating in the award this year amounted to 285 works translated into nine languages. There are 9 works nominated for the annual award. The jury praised the quality of the Arabic version of the novel and its well-deserved award.
Karem, who is a graduate of the Korean Language Department, Faculty of Al Alsun, AinShams University, obtained a master’s degree at Kyung Hee University in Korea in 2018. Karem participated in the competition with the aim of transmitting features of Korean literature to Arab readers.
