41 Heroines: Flowers of the Morning Calm - Tapa blanda

This book is poetry collections regarding Korean heroines similar to the Joan of Arc of France. The Korean heroines of the independent movement during the World Wars were leaders who should not be forgotten. “If I did make up and wore pretty suits when I was young, then I could be pretty too,” said Byung-Hee Lee who was one of the Korean heroines during the World Wars when I visited her in a nursing home in Korea. I read the poem I dedicated to her and even though now she is gone and left us, when she was alive she told me, “Out new young generation should not forget how we strived to fight for our country before and during World War I and World War II.” Her message is still engraved in my heart. She was ninety-nine years old and frail, but I could still feel her spirit was pure and shiny as the stars in the sky. She left us as she was drawing a flower. Like Byung-Hee Lee, there are many heroines who fought for our country and its liberty. Student ambassadors made their efforts translate forty-one poems dedicated to these heroines into English and publish the collection.

Poet: Yoon Ok Lee Translators: Student Ambassadors of Korean Cultural Volunteer Outreach