Ko Un, the preeminent Korean poet of the twentieth century, embraces Buddhism with the versatility of a master Taoist sage. A beloved cultural figure who has helped shape contemporary Korean literature, Ko Un is also a novelist, literary critic, ex-monk, former dissident, and four-time political prisoner. His verse--vivid, unsettling, down-to-earth, and deeply moving--ranges from the short lyric to the vast epic and draws from a poetic reservoir filled with memories and experiences ranging over seventy years of South Korea's tumultuous history from the Japanese occupation to the Korean war to democracy. This collection, an essential sampling of his poems from the last decade of the twentieth century, offers in deft translation, as lively and demotic as the original, the off-beat humor, mystery, and mythic power of his work for a wide audience of English-speaking readers. It showcases the work of a man whom Allen Ginsberg has called "a magnificent poet, a combination of Buddhist cognoscente, passionate political libertarian, and naturalist historian," who Gary Snyder has said is "a real-world poet!" who "outfoxes the Old Masters and the young poets both," and who Lawrence Ferlinghetti has described as "no doubt the greatest living Korean Zen poet today."

This companion volume to "College Korean" (California, 1992) enables students to continue their development of Korean language skills and to enrich their understanding of Korea. Because language is a fundamental component of culture, the text incorporates themes relating to Korea's cultural customs and social issues, presented in the form of dialogues, anecdotes, short essays, and poems. Also included are themes tied to the country's physical geography, including major cities, islands, and historical sites.
Each lesson consists of a situation dialogue, core vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, grammar, and exercises on reading and listening comprehension. The vocabulary uses adult-level words from the media and professional worlds and ranges from computer terms to martial arts. Unlike other Korean language texts, "Intermediate College Korean" goes well beyond everyday survival skills and offers students a much wider exposure to both the language and culture of Korea.
A reference section includes an index to patterns and grammar notes, a glossary, spelling tips, a list of connectives, and irregular verb charts.

"College Korean" offers a comprehensive introduction to the Korean language designed for American students. Rogers, You, and Richards have used their many years of teaching to devise and test an approach that balances reading and writing with the spoken language. The result is a well-rounded textbook suited to a yearlong course in which students learn to conduct conversations about their own lives and interests, read texts written in "hangul," and write simple compositions.
The book systematically introduces basic Korean grammar, a contextualized vocabulary, and styles of speech that are sociolinguistically appropriate for college students. Each of its 26 lessons contains a dialogue or a reading, practice patterns, relevant grammar notes, and exercises. Approximately 150 Sino-Korean characters are also introduced, and complete glossaries and grammar indexes are provided.