The Red Years: Forbidden Poems from Inside North Korea

Author:   Bandi ,  Heinz Insu Fenkl
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN:  

9781786996602


Pages:   96
Publication Date:   15 August 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Our Price $24.99 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

The Red Years: Forbidden Poems from Inside North Korea


Add your own review!

Overview

Though North Korea holds the attention of the world, it is still rare for us to hear North Korean voices, beyond those few who have escaped. Known only by his pen name, the poet and author ‘Bandi’ stands as one of the most distinctive and original dissident writers to emerge from the country, and his work is all the more striking for the fact that he continues to reside in North Korea, writing in secret, with his work smuggled out of the country by supporters and relatives. The Red Years represents the first collection of Bandi’s poetry to be made available in English. As he did in his first work The Accusation, Bandi here gives us a rare glimpse into everyday life and survival in North Korea. Singularly poignant and evocative, The Red Years stands as a testament to the power of the human spirit to endure and resist even the most repressive of regimes.

Full Product Details

Author:   Bandi ,  Heinz Insu Fenkl
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   Zed Books Ltd
Weight:   0.108kg
ISBN:  

9781786996602


ISBN 10:   178699660
Pages:   96
Publication Date:   15 August 2019
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Preface Poem 1. Barren Earth A New Arirang for the North Green Leaves, Falling Blizzard Bloody Fall A Maiden’s Window Song of the Fire Swallows Chajabi (The Hitchhiker) Ugly, White Snow The Mill on the Mountain New Seongcheon Station 2. Exhausted Heart Song of the Red People Roundabout Blues Toads No Ingredients Blues Idol 50 Years of Red Five Thieves Blues Stepmother The Song of Kim Juseok Heartsick Red Locomotive Night at the Military Camp Affliction in the Red House 3. Longing for You, My Love One Heart Long, Long Winter Nights Ah! KBS Educational Channel My Love How Much I Love You Please Deliver Just This Blow, South Wind This Lonely Life I Awaited You, My Love 4. Attached to a Life Youth is a Forking Road O Azaleas Song of Life Pine Trees Thoughts of Mother Woman of Pure Love Oak Tree in Winter A Man Your Lover 5. Wishes Bandi (Firefly) Landscape White with Snow Why I Love Wildflowers Me for Myself The Whistling Man Today The World Where People Live Open-minded Life Sow Love, Reap Love A Dream Afterword: Bandi’s Dream - Do Hee-yun

Reviews

Praise for Bandi's The Accusation `Fascinating and chilling. Heartfelt and heartbreaking.'Margaret Atwood 'A fierce indictment of life in the totalitarian North.'New York Times 'Powerful insights into a world behind walls.'Guardian 'Its very existence is still a hopeful symbol that change is inevitable, if not imminent.'Vice `Spare, direct, unflinching and bitterly angry.'Observer `Bandi [presents] a world in which North Koreans are nuanced: broken-hearted, idealistic, still full of life.'Times Literary Supplement `Courageous and confounding ... It's a quiet privilege to be given access to the voiceless by listening to such vivid and uncompromised storytelling.' New Statesman


Author Information

The author and poet known only as ‘Bandi’ (a pseudonym meaning ‘firefly’) spent his childhood in China before returning to North Korea, the country of his birth, as a young man. Initially writing for North Korean magazines, the focus of Bandi’s writing changed forever after the deaths of many people close to him during the great famine of the 1990s. The experiences of this time made him resolve to share with the outside world a true likeness of the harsh North Korean society as he himself saw it. With the help of a relative, he was able to smuggle a collection of his poems and stories to South Korea. The first part of this manuscript achieved international acclaim when it was published as the short story collection The Accusation: Forbidden Stories From Inside North Korea (2018).

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

lgn

al

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List