Red Years

The author and poet known only as ‘Bandi’ (a pseudonym meaning ‘firefly’) spent his childhood in China before returning to North Korea, the country of his birth, as a young man. Initially writing for North Korean magazines, the focus of Bandi’s writing changed forever after the deaths of many people close to him during the great famine of the 1990s. The experiences of this time made him resolve to share with the outside world a true likeness of the harsh North Korean society as he himself saw it. With the help of a relative, he was able to smuggle a collection of his poems and stories to South Korea. The first part of this manuscript achieved international acclaim when it was published as the short story collection The Accusation: Forbidden Stories From Inside North Korea (2018).

• Preface Poem1. Barren Earth A New Arirang for the NorthGreen Leaves, FallingBlizzardBloody FallA Maiden’s WindowSong of the Fire SwallowsChajabi (The Hitchhiker)Ugly, White SnowThe Mill on the MountainNew Seongcheon Station2. Exhausted HeartSong of the Red PeopleRoundabout BluesToadsNo Ingredients BluesIdol50 Years of RedFive Thieves BluesStepmotherThe Song of Kim JuseokHeartsickRed LocomotiveNight at the Military CampAffliction in the Red House3. Longing for You, My LoveOne HeartLong, Long Winter NightsAh! KBS Educational ChannelMy LoveHow Much I Love YouPlease Deliver Just ThisBlow, South WindThis Lonely LifeI Awaited You, My Love4. Attached to a LifeYouth is a Forking RoadO AzaleasSong of LifePine TreesThoughts of MotherWoman of Pure LoveOak Tree in WinterA ManYour Lover5. WishesBandi (Firefly)Landscape White with SnowWhy I Love WildflowersMe for MyselfThe Whistling ManTodayThe World Where People LiveOpen-minded LifeSow Love, Reap LoveA DreamAfterword: Bandi’s Dream - Do Hee-yun

As a collection of poems by an anonymous North Korean dissident sees the light here for the first time, Katie Law learns the extraordinary story of how he risked his life to smuggle his work out of the country ... The Red Years, a slim volume of 51 short poems, makes for pretty depressing reading, the brutality of life under Kim Il-sung and his son Kim Jong-il expressed even more crudely than in the stories.