Dr. David McCann is the Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and former director of the Korea Institute at Harvard University. He is the recipient of numerous prizes, grants, and fellowships, including the Order of Cultural Merit award (2006), one of the highest decorations by the Korean government, and the Manhae Prize in Arts and Sciences (2004). His books include Urban Temple (Bo-Leaf Press, 2012), Azaleas (Columbia University Press, 2007), Enough to Say It’s Far (Princeton University Press, Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation, 2006), Traveler Maps: Poems by Ko Un (Tamal Vista Press, 2004), The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry (2004), Early Korean Literature: Selections and Introductions (2001), and several co-edited volumes, including War and Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War (2001) and The Classical Moment: Views from Seven Literatures (1999). Not only a renowned translator of major Korean poets but also a recognized poet, he has published his own poems in such distinguished journals as Poetry, Ploughshares, Descant, and Runes. His poem “David” was included in the Pushcart Prize Anthology III. His new book of poems, The Way I Wait For You, was released by Codhill Press in 2007.

Dr. Mark Peterson is head of the Korean Section, Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages at Brigham Young University. Prior to his appointment at BYU in 1984, he was the director of the Fulbright program in Korea from 1978 to 1983. He is a member of the Association for Asian Studies, where he is the chair of the Korean Studies Committee, as well as the Royal Asiatic Society, the International Association for Korean Language Education, the International Korean Literature Association, and the American Association of Korean Teachers. He received a B.A. in Asian Studies and Anthropology from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilization from Harvard University.