Four Seasons

By: Han-Jae Lee

This essay collection recounts the modern and contemporary history of Korea through the life of the author. Korea was a poorly developed country that was devastated during the Japanese colonial period in the early 20th century, followed by liberation, and the Korean War. In the process, there was a time when many Korean people gathered their strength to create something out of nothing in order to escape poverty. And now, Korea is standing shoulder to shoulder with developed countries. Korea has achieved not only political democratization and remarkable economic development in a relatively short period of time in recent decades, but also Korean literature is making remarkable progress toward globalization in many ways. The following essays describe various elements of rural life in Korea as a child, life in a large city in Seoul as a youth and living abroad as an adult. Before writing this essay collection, he compiled seven poetry and essay collections in Korean and English, and published them in Korea and the United States.

Advance praise for Four Seasons

Han-Jae Lee's, Four Seasons is an engaging collection of essays that recount the author's experiences as a native Korean coming of age in a poor rural area, going on to lead a prosperous career as a working man for a large corporation, fathering children, traveling around the globe and spending time in the United States. Lee's observations about both past and present life are touching and astute. A poet at heart, his reflections are tender and poignant, as he covers a wide range of topics, from tending a cow as a young man to his influences in literature and writing, to the old customs in Korea to new information technologies. Relationships, both intimate and professional are examined. Reading Four Seasons cover to cover, you will be entertained throughout.

- Magdalena Montagne, poet-teacher

The Four Seasons is a distillation of the author's life. In providing vignettes of his life both in prose and poetry, Han-Jae Lee presents the reader with the thoughts and impressions of a life rich in experience tempered by wisdom. This will not be a book that you only read once, but several times because you will always find something new and instructive in its pages.

- Alexander E. Braun, author of The Adventure of the Maiden Voyage

About the Author

Han-Jae Lee took poetry writing courses at the Hudson Valley Writers Center in New York, as well as several workshops in libraries. He has also studied poetry at Chung-Ang University and Korea University. In 2005 his poem, "A High-rise Apartment," won a silver award in a national contest sponsored by The National Assembly of Korea and The Federation of Korean Cultural Center. Lee has seven books of poems and essays: A High-rise Apartment, (Sisunsa, 2008); The Golden Gate Bridge and Other Natural Wonders, (River Sanctuary Publishing, 2013); A Place Where Clouds Are Flowing, (Finishing Line Press, 2017); Korea My Homeland, (Finishing Line Press, 2019); Korea, (River Sanctuary Publishing, 2020); At the Riverside, (Sisuna, 2020); Bom YeoreumGaeulGyeoul (The Literature Monthly, 2022). His poems and essays have appeared in the Catamaran Literary Reader, Monterey Poetry Review, Caesura, Sand Hill Review, Crab Orchard Review, PCC Inscape Magazine, Snapdragon Journal, Military Experience & The Arts, EMRYS Journal, and Free Spirit.