Presented in partnership with the Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) through the KL Wave International Exchange Grant.

In Seoul, the city of K-pop, you’ll find poems featured on every subway platform door. On its main streets, lined with huge LED screens, new verses are displayed every couple weeks. People pause to read those verses and fully feel the change of seasons. For Koreans, poetry is part of their everyday landscape and lives, a part of their collective spirit they’ve long preserved. Even in this dopamine-addled era where everyone is glued to their smartphones, new poets continue to emerge steadily in Korea and new poetry collections are being published. New poetry and new poets are incredibly well loved by the new K-pop–loving generation.

Join Lee Jenny, Yoo Heekyung, Stine An, and Archana Madhavan as we explore why Korean society craves poetry so deeply. They’ll also examine the unique history and environment surrounding Korean poetry that allowed poets such as Kim Hyesoon, Han Kang, Lee Seong-bok, and Yi Sang to emerge from within literature written in Korean, a minority language. You too may find yourself captivated by the charms of Korean poetry.

Sun, 04/19/2026 - 11:00 am

NOHC 204

Participants: Lee Jenny, Archana Madhavan, Yoo Heekyung & Stine An