From Taekwondo to literary translation with Mattho Mandersloot

Mattho Mandersloot is a literary translator working from Korean into English and Dutch. He holds a degree in Classics from King’s College London and one in Translation from the School of Oriental and African Studies. He has won the Korea Times’ 51st Modern Korean Literature Translation Award, the World Literature Today Translation Prize and the Oxford Korean Poetry Translation Prize.

In July 2021, we welcomed Mattho to Norwich for a month-long residency with support from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. During his residency he worked on Choi Jeongrye’s final collection of poetry, Net of Light, alongside award-winning poet and translator George Szirtes.

In this conversation between Matthow and George, they discuss the intricacies of language, the power of K-pop, the rise in popularity of Korean studies, and how Mattho's love of taekwondo led him to a career in literary translation.

Find out more about what we do: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/

Hosted by Steph McKenna.

Music by Bennet Maples.