Zhong Zhang (丁章) is a stateless third-generation Zainichi Korean poet born in 1968. He majored in Chinese at the Osaka University of Foreign Studies. In 1997, Zhong received an Honorable Mention in the Kansai Literary Prize for his poem “Vow to the Sky: In Front of Yun Dong-ju’s Grave” (はらからの誓い──尹東柱の墓の前で). He published his first poetry collection, Minjok and the Human and Saram (民族と人間とサラム) in 1998. Other publications include the poetry collections Maŭmsori: Sound of the Heart (マウムソリ ── 心の声), The Striding Zainichi (闊歩する在日), and The Poetry Monument (詩碑; finalist for the fiftieth Oguma Hideo Poetry Prize), and the prose collection The Existence of Saram (サラムの在りか). 

“Zhong Zhang” is the transliteration that the author uses for his name, 丁章 (정장). He uses the Chinese romanization system to show that he is not a citizen of either North or South Korea, which use separate romanization systems.

Emily Jungmin Yoon, our translator for Zhong’s bio, originally “mistranslated” はらから (compatriot) as “to the Sky.” Zhong was intrigued by this creative translation and suggested we keep it that way. 

丁章（チョン・ヂャン）：在日サラム（コリアン）三世。無国籍（朝鮮籍）。詩人。1968年京都生まれ。東大阪市立小・中学校、大阪府立高校、国立大阪外国語大学Ⅱ部中国語卒業。97年詩「はらからの誓い──尹東柱の墓の前で」が関西文学賞奨励賞受賞。98年詩集『民族と人間とサラム』初出版。以後著作に、詩集『マウムソリ ── 心の声』、詩集『闊歩する在日』、詩集『詩碑』(第50回小熊秀雄賞最終候補詩集）、散文集『サラムの在りか』(すべて新幹社刊）、その他共著多数。22年オール東大阪市民の会事務局長として責任編集した『オール東大阪教科書運動報告集──教育の独立を取り戻すまで』が「第4回むのたけじ地域・民衆ジャーナリズム賞優秀賞を受賞。喫茶美術館主人。和寧文化社代表。

Andre Haag is an assistant professor of Japanese literature and culture at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He received his PhD in Japanese literature from Stanford University. Haag’s research explores the tensions and terrors of cultural engagements linking Japan and Korea from the era of imperial literature to postcolonial Zainichi cultural production.

Nathaniel Heneghan is an independent scholar, poet, playwright, and punk rock drummer based in Seattle, Washington. He received his PhD from the University of Southern California, and his research examines the evolution of Zainichi Korean representation in literature and film from the colonial period to the present. His current project explores notions of confession and “coming out” in recent Zainichi cultural production.