Endless Blue Sky

Lee Hyoseok (1907–1942) was born in Pyeongchang, in what is now South Korea. Publishing his first short story while studying English Literature at Keijō Imperial University, Lee’s early work displayed a sympathy for the socialist cause, and later became more modernist in style. Lee was famously part of Guinhoe, the ‘Group of Nine’, a group which included Yi Sang and Lee Taejun. Every year, his hometown celebrates his life with the Hyoseok Cultural Festival.

Steven Capener is a Korean-English translator and associate professor at Seoul Women’s University, having completed his PhD in Korean Literature at Yonsei University. Along with Endless Blue Sky, Steven has also translated various short stories by Lee Hyoseok and published articles on the influence of Blake, Whitman, and Mansfield on Lee’s work, as well as the author’s use of Europhilia and cosmopolitanism as a critique of tradition.