Ko Chang-soo

Who is Ko Chang-soo?

Ko Chang-soo is a Korean poet and diplomat.

Chang obtained a Doctor of Letters degree from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, Korea, his dissertation being on Buddhist thought in T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets. He served his country as a career diplomat, being South Korean consul general in Seattle, Washington in the United States and ambassador to Ethiopia and Pakistan.

His poetry is written in Korean, but he has translated much of his own as well as other Korean poetry. In addition to having a number of books with his poetry, he has had poems published in such journals as World Poetry, Viewpoint 11, and Curious Cats. Ko has won various Korean poetry prizes as well as the Lucian Blaga International Poetry Festival Grand Prize in Romania. Some of his poery has also been translated into Spanish. He also has won the Modern Korean Literature Translation Award.

Much of Ko's poetry reflects his knowledge of Western culture and literature, as seen in such poems as "To Marc Chagall." Other poems examine and reflect on his experience in Korea and other places around the world. Many, though not all, of his poems are set out-of-doors. Some of these place the poet in the setting.