Cindy Juyoung Ok is an American poet, translator, and teacher.[1] Her debut poetry collection, Ward Toward, was released in 2024 by Yale University Press for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Her own poems have been published in Sewanee Review, New England Review, and others, and her translated poems by Kim Hyesoon have appeared in publications like the Paris Review. She has taught at Wellesley College and Kenyon College and is a professor at the University of California, Davis.
Career
editOk is of Korean descent.[1]
Ok's poems have appeared in Poets.org, Sewanee Review, New England Review, Harvard Review, Iowa Review, and others.[2][3][4][5][6] Her translations of Kim Hyesoon have appeared in The Paris Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, and Asymptote, and her translation of Kim's The Hell of That Star will be published by Wesleyan University Press in 2026.[7][8][9][10]
Before becoming a teacher in creative writing, Ok taught science at a public school and additionally taught summer programs and coached debate teams. She also did "several new jobs" such as "rape crisis call center advocate ... standardized test item reviewer ... dissertation editing ... study subject ... commissioned translator ... creative writing instructor at various nonprofits" as well as "bartending, babysitting, and essay reviewing", among others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she both attended and taught workshops in creative writing online.[11]
In 2023, Ok's debut poetry collection, Ward Toward, was selected for the 2023 Yale Series of Younger Poets and subsequently published by Yale University Press in 2024.[12] The book was recommended by Electric Literature and LitHub and given a starred review by Publishers Weekly.[13][14][15] Ok embarked on a "joint book tour" alongside Diana Khoi Nguyen to promote it.[16]
Ok was a Kenyon Review Fellow from 2023 to 2024, during which she taught a class at Kenyon College.[17] She has also been a visiting lecturer in English at Wellesley College.[18] In fall of 2024, Ok joined the English department at the University of California, Davis to teach both undergraduate and graduate courses in poetry.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b Simonovis, Leonora. "Ward Toward". The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Ok, Cindy Juyoung. "To Bear the Ruse by Cindy Juyoung Ok - Poems | Academy of American Poets". Poets.org. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Ok, Cindy Juyoung. "Faint". The Sewanee Review. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Ok, Cindy Juyoung (2023-12-11). "Canopy's Claim". New England Review. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Ok, Cindy Juyoung. "Descending America". Harvard Review. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Ok, Cindy Juyoung. "Congratulations". The Iowa Review. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Kim, Hyesoon; Ok, Cindy Juyoung (July 8, 2024). "Making of a Poem: Kim Hyesoon and Cindy Juyoung Ok on "Person Walking Backward"". The Paris Review.
- ^ Kim, Hyesoon; Ok, Cindy Juyoung. "Kim Hyesoon's For the Next Instant's I (trans. Cindy Juyoung Ok)". HFR. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Kim, Hyesoon; Ok, Cindy Juyoung. "from The Hell of That Star". www.asymptotejournal.com. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ a b Ramirez, Marilyn (October 19, 2024). "New Faculty Interview: Cindy Juyoung Ok Joins the English Department". The Department of English at UC Davis.
- ^ "10 Questions for Cindy Juyoung Ok". www.massreview.org. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Demneri, Erlisa (April 2, 2024). "'Ward Toward' Review: A Stunning Exploration of Form Carves Out An Inventive Path for Poetry | Arts | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Ali, Sarah Ghazal (2024-04-10). "7 Poetry Collections that Transform the Personal Into Portals". Electric Literature. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Frank, Rebecca Morgan; Woo, David (2024-01-04). "Here Are the Poetry Books to Read in 2024". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ "Ward Toward by Cindy Juyoung Ok". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ "Interview with Diana Khoi Nguyen and Cindy Juyoung Ok". Cincinnati Review. 2024-09-13. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ "The Kenyon Review Fellowships". The Kenyon Review. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
- ^ Lacey, India. "Professor Cindy Ok Awarded Yale Younger Poets Prize". The Wellesley News. Retrieved 2024-11-16.