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Wed 05 May 2009Dedicated to a poetic Korea
Koreans have been described as ‘the Irish of Asia’, and after translating 2,000 of their poems, Fr Kevin O’Rourke is in a position to judge, writes DAVID McNEILL
IN HIS COURTING days, Kevin O’Rourke once walked the 17-mile journey from Cavan town to Clones, in nearby Co Monaghan, in pursuit of a girl. Adventures like that, in the countryside that inspired W Percy French, Patrick Kavanagh, Patrick McCabe and other writers may unwittingly have prepared him for his unusual path: becoming the world’s greatest translator of Korean poetry.
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