Seattle Writers Selected for Korean Residency Programs
Seattle City of Literature is pleased to announce that two local writers have been selected to participate in writers’ residencies in Korea this fall.
Jeanine Walker was selected as Wonju City’s inaugural writer in residence. She will be in residence at the Toji Cultural Centre for approximately six weeks, while working on her forthcoming novel.
Takami Nieda was one of two writers selected to be in residence in Bucheon. Her residency in Bucheon will be for approximately four weeks, while working on a translation of Lee Hoesung’s Travelers of a Hundred Years.
Both writers were selected after a competitive application process, and each will participate in local events, give classes and meet with local writers during their stays.
Takami Nieda is a Japanese English literary translator, specialized in translating literature of the Korean diaspora, specifically of writers born and/or living in Japan. Her translation works include Kazuki Kaneshiro’s Go, published in March 2018; and The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart by Chesil, forthcoming from Soho Press in April 2022. Nieda’s translation of Go won the Freeman Book Award in 2019. She is currently working on a translation of Travelers of a Hundred Years, written by zainichi Korean writer Lee Hoesung. This translation was initiated by Literature Translation Institute of Korea. Nieda teaches at Seattle Central College.
A recipient of fellowships from Artist Trust and the Jack Straw Cultural Center, Jeanine Walker has published poems in Chattahoochee Review, Prairie Schooner, New Ohio Review, and Third Coast, and her debut poetry collection, The Two of Them Might Outlast Me, is forthcoming from Groundhog Poetry Press in fall 2021. She holds a Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston and teaches poetry in public schools through Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools program and at Hugo House. Jeanine also writes, produces, and acts in films with her partner, Steve Mauer.
Bucheon, South Korea was designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2017. Their residency program aims to increase international exchange and communication, contribute to the mobility of writers, translators, and cartoonists, offer a creative and inspiring environment and provide them an opportunity to introduce their work to Korean readers. For more information about Bucheon UNESCO City of Literature visit https://www.seattlecityoflit.org/citiesoflit.
Wonju, South Korea was designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2019. This is the first year of their residency program, which was designed to promote understanding and friendship between the UNESCO Cities of Literature. For more information about Wonju UNESCO City of Literature visit https://www.seattlecityoflit.org/citiesoflit.
