“Intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” (Swedish Academy, “The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024: Press Release,” 2024)
Han Kang is a poet and novelist who mourns and chronicles the lives of those destroyed by violence, seeking to restore a sense of human dignity.
1. Life
Han Kang was born in Gwangju in 1970. Her father is the novelist Han Seung-won. She graduated from Poongmoon Girls’ High School and majored in Korean language and literature at Yonsei University, where she also earned a master’s degree. In her fourth year of undergraduate study, she won a poetry prize in the literary contest hosted by the campus newspaper. After finishing her undergraduate study, she worked briefly as a reporter for the magazine Saemteo. She began her literary career in 1993, publishing five poems including “Seourui gyeoul” (서울의 겨울 Winter in Seoul) in the winter issue of Literature and Society. The following year, her short story “Bulgeun dat” (붉은 닻 The Scarlet Anchor) won the Seoul Shinmun New Writer’s Contest. From the moment of her debut, she was hailed as a leading voice of a new generation of Korean literature; in 2005, she won the Yi Sang Literary Award, following her father who had received the same award in 1988. From 2007 to 2018, she taught creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts but has since devoted herself entirely to her own writing. It was later revealed through investigation that in 2016, during the Park Geun-hye administration, she had been placed on a cultural blacklist on the grounds of “ideological bias.” In May 2016, her linked-stories novel The Vegetarian was awarded the International Booker Prize, making her the first Korean writer to receive the honor, which became a major topic of discussion in Korea and also brought her widespread international recognition. In 2024, she became the first Asian woman and the first Korean writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation, the Swedish Academy praised her work as “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
2. Writing
Han Kang made her debut as a poet in 1993 and as a novelist in 1994. Although she has been especially prolific as a novelist, she has continued to publish poetry throughout her career. Her work has drawn particular attention for its attempt to mourn lives sacrificed to state violence. The linked-stories novel Sonyeoni onda (소년이 온다 Human Acts) addresses the May 1980 Gwangju democratic uprising and massacre, while We Do Not Part, which won France’s Prix Médicis in 2023, revisits the Jeju April 3 massacre that took place during Korea’s post-liberation period. More broadly, Han’s writing seeks new literary possibilities for preserving human dignity through the spread of pain across boundaries. Chaesikjuuija (채식주의자 The Vegetarian), winner of the International Booker Prize in 2016, follows a woman who resists the violence done to others in her own way, a violence epitomized by the act of eating meat. The dignity Han strives to defend is both social and political, and yet it is one that can also be damaged by causes that are profoundly conceptual and existential. As a result, the spectrum of suffering her novels engage with is too vast to be contained by any single word.
Han has said, “to be able to sense another’s pain and make it your own is like a final line of defense that bears witness to human nobility.” Her remark suggests why conveying sensation through language is essential to her work, and it is why her prose is intensely poetic. She often employs similar figurative language across both poetry and fiction. In her fiction, dense metaphor, deep lyricism, and a rhythmic quality in her sentences do much to shape the atmosphere. She presents dialogue without conventional quotation marks or typographical markers. These stylistic choices have come to be widely recognized as her distinctive signature.
#BBD0E0»
Reference
Short story collections
《여수의 사랑》(문학과지성사, 1995) / Yeosuui sarang (Yeosu), Moonji, 1995
《내 여자의 열매》(창작과비평사, 2000) / Nae yeojaui yeolmae (Fruits of My Woman), Changbi, 2000
《노랑무늬영원》(문학과지성사, 2012) / Norangmunuiyeongwon (Fire Salamander), Moonji, 2012
(co-authored) 《이별전후사의 재인식》(강, 2010) / Ibyeol jeonhusaui jaeinsik (A Reappraisal of the History of Farewells), Gangbook, 2010
(co-authored) 《회복하는 인간》(아시아, 2013) / Hoebokhaneun ingan (The Recovering Human), Asia Publishers, 2013
(co-authored) 《(2013/2014) 저작걸이展》(화림원, 2014) / (2013/2014) Jeojak geori jeon (2013/2014 Works on Display Exhibition), Hwarimwon, 2014
(co-authored) 《#젠더_소설》(문학과지성사, 2021) / #Jendeo_soseol (#Gender_Fiction), Moonji, 2021
Anthologies of award-winning works
(co-authored) 《‘98 우리 시대의 화제소설》(평민사, 1997) /'98 Uri sidae-ui hwaje soseol (Novels of Our Era '98), Pyeongminsa, 1997
(co-authored) 《올해의 좋은 소설》(현대문학, 1997) / Olhaeui joeun soseol (Good Novels of the Year), Hyundae Munhak, 1997
(co-authored) 《전야, 혹은 시대의 마지막 밤》(이수, 1998) / Jeonya, hogeun sidaeui majimak bam (The Eve, or the Last Night of the Era), Isu, 1998
(co-authored) 《아기 부처》(개미, 1999) / Agi bucheo (Baby Buddha), Gaemi, 1999
(co-authored) 《개교기념일 외》(현대문학, 2000) / Gaegyo ginyeomil oe (School Foundation Day and Other Stories), Hyundae Munhak, 2000
(co-authored) 《2000 올해의 문제소설》(신원문화사, 2000) / 2000 Olhaeui munje soseol (Problem Fiction of the Year 2000), Sinwon Munhwasa, 2000
(co-authored) 《신춘문예 소설걸작선》(좋은느낌, 2000) / Sinchun munye soseol geoljakseon (Selected Masterpieces from the New Writer’s Contests), Joeun Neukkim, 2000
(co-authored) 《우리가 만난 작가들》(현대문학북스, 2001) / Uriga mannan jakgadeul (Writers We Have Met), Hyundae Munhak Books, 2001
(co-authored) 《제3회 황순원문학상 수상작품집》(중앙M&B출판, 2003) / Je 3-hoe Hwang Sun-won munhaksang susang jakpumjip (3rd Hwang Sun-won Literary Award Anthology), JoongAng M&B Publishing, 2003
(co-authored) 《올해의 좋은 소설》(현대문학, 2003) / Olhaeui joeun soseol (Good Novels of the Year), Hyundae Munhak, 2003
(co-authored) 《이효석문학상 수상작품집》(해토, 2003) / Yi Hyoseok munhaksang susang jakpumjip (Lee Hyoseok Literary Award Anthology), Haeto, 2003
(co-authored) 《몽고반점 외》(문학사상사, 2005) / Monggo banjeom oe (The Mongolian Mark and Other Stories), Munhak Sasangsa, 2005
(co-authored) 《성석제 김영하 외》(창비, 2006) / Song Sokze Kim Young-ha oe (Song Sokze, Kim Young-ha, and Others), Changbi, 2006
(co-authored) 《전기수 이야기 외》(현대문학, 2006) / Jeongisu iyagi oe (The Storyteller and Other Stories), Hyundae Munhak, 2006
(co-authored) 《올해의 문제소설》(푸른사상사, 2007) / Olhaeui munje soseol (Problem Fiction of the Year), Pureun Sasangsa, 2007
(co-authored) 《칼 : 황순원 문학상 수상작품집》(중앙북스, 2007) / Kal: Hwang Sun-won munhaksang susang jakpumjip (The Knife: Hwang Sun-won Literary Award Anthology), JoongAng Books, 2007
(co-authored) 《올해의 문제소설》(푸른사상사, 2011) / Olhaeui munje soseol (Problem Fiction of the Year), Pureun Sasangsa, 2011
(co-authored) 《부메랑 : 2011 황순원 문학상 수상작품집》(중앙북스, 2011) / Bumerang: 2011 Hwang Sun-won munhaksang susang jakpumjip (Boomerang: 2011 Hwang Sun-won Literary Award Anthology), JoongAng Books, 2011
(co-authored) 《황순원 문학상 수상작품집 : 빈집·김인숙》(중앙북스, 2012) / Hwang Sun-won munhaksang susang jakpumjip: Binjip, Kim Insuk (Hwang Sun-won Literary Award Anthology: “Empty House” by Kim Insuk), JoongAng Books, 2012
(co-authored) 《황석영의 한국 명단편 101》(문학동네, 2015) / Hwang Sok-yongui Hanguk myeongdanpyeon 101 (Hwang Sok-yong's 101 Great Korean Short Stories), Munhakdongne, 2015
(co-authored) 《눈 한 송이가 녹는 동안 : 제15회 황순원문학상 수상작품집》(중앙북스, 2015) / Nun han songiga nongneun dongan: Je 15-hoe Hwang Sun-won munhaksang susang jakpumjip (While One Snowflake Melts: 15th Hwang Sun-won Literary Award Anthology), JoongAng Books, 2015
(co-authored) 《2018 김유정문학상 : 제12회 수상 작품집》(은행나무, 2018) / 2018 Kim Yu-Jeong munhaksang: Je 12-hoe susang jakpumjip (2018 Kim Yu-Jeong Literary Award: 12th Award Anthology), EunHaeng NaMu, 2018
(co-authored) 《중고생이 꼭 읽어야 할 한국중장편소설 40》(리베르, 2022) / Junggosaengi kkok ilgeoya hal Hanguk jungjangpyeon soseol 40 (40 Korean Mid- and Full-Length Novels Middle and High School Students Must Read), Liber, 2022
Novels
《검은 사슴》(문학동네, 1998) / Geomeun saseum (Black Deer), Munhakdongne, 1998
《그대의 차가운 손》(문학과지성사, 2002) / Geudaeui chagaun son (Your Cold Hands), Moonji, 2002
《채식주의자》(창비, 2007) / The Vegetarian, Portobello Books, 2015
《바람이 분다, 가라》(문학과지성사, 2010) / Barami bunda, gara (Ink and Blood), Moonji, 2010
《희랍어 시간》(문학동네, 2011) / Greek Lessons, Hogarth Press, 2023
《소년이 온다》(창비, 2014) / Human Acts, Portobello Books, 2016
《흰》(난다, 2016) / The White Book, Portobello Books, 2017
《작별하지 않는다》(문학동네, 2021) / We Do Not Part, Hogarth Press, 2025
Poetry collections
《서랍에 저녁을 넣어 두었다》(문학과지성사, 2013) / Seorabe jeonyeogeul neoeo dueotta (I Put the Evening in the Drawer), Moonji, 2013
(co-authored) 《이 연애에 이름을 붙인다면》(미디어창비, 2024) / I yeonaee ireumeul buchindamyeon (If I Were to Name This Love), Media Changbi, 2024
Children’s books
(co-authored) 《내 이름은 태양꽃》(문학동네, 2002) / Nae ireumeun taeyangkkot (My Name Is Sun Flower), Munhakdongne, 2002
(co-authored) 《붉은 꽃 이야기》(열림원, 2003) / Bulgeun kkot iyagi (The Story of the Red Flower), Yolimwon, 2003
(co-authored) 《꼬마 로봇 스누트의 모험》(더북컴퍼니, 2005) / Kkoma robot Seunuteuui moheom (The Adventures of Little Robot Snoot), The Book Company, 2005
(co-authored) 《빨간 모자 이야기》(문학동네, 2006) / Ppalgan moja iyagi (The Story of Little Red Riding Hood), Munhakdongne, 2006
(co-authored) 《천둥 꼬마 선녀 번개 꼬마 선녀》(문학동네, 2007) / Cheondung kkoma seonnyeo beongae kkoma seonnyeo (The Little Thunder Fairy and the Little Lightning Fairy), Munhakdongne, 2007
(co-authored) 《눈물상자》(문학동네, 2008) / Nunmul sangja (The Box of Tears), Munhakdongne, 2008
Essays
《사랑과, 사랑을 둘러싼 것들》(열림원, 2003) / Saranggwa, sarangeul dulleossan geotdeul (Love, and the Things That Surround Love), Yolimwon, 2003
《가만가만 부르는 노래》(비채, 2007) / Gamangaman bureuneun norae (A Song Softly Sung), Bichae, 2007
《디 에센셜 한강》(문학동네, 2023) / Di eseonsyeol Han Gang (The Essential Han Kang), Munhakdongne, 2023
(co-authored) 《내 인생의 영화》(씨네21북스, 2005) / Nae insaengui yeonghwa (The Film of My Life), Cine21 Books, 2005
(co-authored) 《평생 잊지 못할 한구절》(예담:위즈덤하우스, 2006) / Pyeongsaeng itji mothal han gujeol (A Phrase Never to Be Forgotten), Yedam: Wisdom House, 2006
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