"Eyes of Dew: Poems of Dr. Chonggi Mah"

Dr. Chonggi Mah

Dr. Chonggi Mah has enjoyed prominent careers in both poetry and medicine. Born in Japan, he returned to Korea shortly before the end of World War II and began studying medicine at Yonsei University after the Korean War. While in college, he was introduced to poet Park Tu-jin and began publishing his own work in the journal Hyŏndae munhak. Dr. Mah received the Yonsei Literary Award in 1961 for his first anthology of poems, Quiet Triumph. He graduated from Yonsei in 1963. After military service, he moved to the United States, where he interned and completed his radiology residency training at the Ohio State University Hospital. He became an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology and Pediatrics at the Medical College of Ohio. The fourth year of his professorship, he was presented with the “Best Professor of the Year” award. He continued to write poetry that was published and celebrated in Korea, including the collections Frontier Flowers (1976), Invisible Land of Love (1980), How Should Living Together Be Only for Reeds? (1986), The Color of That Country’s Sky (1991), Eyes of Dew (1997), In the Birds’ Dreams Trees are Fragrant (2002), and Are We Still Calling Each Other? (2006). He received many significant Korean literary awards from these works. Dr. Mah became a prominent leader in the Korean community of Toledo and continued to achieve recognition as a doctor, including further academic appointments in Ohio and his induction as a fellow of the American College of Radiology.

The Center for Korean Studies is honored to host Dr. Mah, who will read and discuss his work.