Recipient of the 2026 Arts Council Korea Literature Fellowship
People who think of the past and the present who think endlessly of what is to come and search for it tirelessly in the present are already living in the future. Those who gaze endlessly upon time and lose themselves in what is to come and search for something in people's faces are already living what they believe is to come through practice. There are times that are lumped together and merge and stretch and lie down and the future is not necessarily what happens next and the past is not necessarily what already happened. —From Future Walking Rehearsals (Munhakdongne, 2021)
Bak Solmay writes about the history and time of things that read and see and walk in the manner of a walker.
1. Life
Born in Gwangju, Bak Solmay grew up in Gwangju and Daegu. She studied arts administration at university. Bak made her literary debut in 2009 winning the Jaeum & Moeum’s New Writer’s Award. Her published works include the short story collections Then What Shall We Sing?, Winter’s Gaze, Our People, The Dog of Trust Does Not Forsake Time, At Yeongneung; the novels Time in the City, Slowly Head First, Night of the Internationale, Silence Animal, Future Walking Rehearsals; and the essay collection Good Things Happen if You Fall Asleep Reading. She is the recipient of the Moonji Literary Award, Kim Seungok Literary Award, Kim Hyeon Prize, and the Tong-ni Mogwol Literature Prize.
2. Writing
Bak Solmay is one of the few young authors attempting to expand the scope of the novel through constant literary experimentation. The unique rhythm of the writer's sentences in which the spoken and written word overlap, combined with a narrative style inducive to a certain kind of chaos, combine to create a bizarre time-space in which potentiality and actuality coexist. Inside, the reader's eyes are opened to an utterly fresh view of the world; it is to the writer's credit that this gaze also holds up under the weight of specific social conundrums.
—From the jury's commentary for the 5th Kim Hyeon Prize (http://silhum.or.kr/kim-hyeon-prize/#pg-295-2)
As Bak Solmay's characters walk through the streets, they walk past illusions jumping out at them at every moment. This is an express declaration of intent to meet the world and live strictly in the present. [...] If there is one concept we must take away from that, this is it. The belief that nothing is fixed, not the world, not us, but constantly in flux and must be so. Bak's walkers are practicing that belief. As we walk, the streets change. We walk the changing streets. —Kim Nyeong, "Walking Void: A Perspective on Bak Solmay’s Fiction" in Korean Critical Review, Spring 2018, p.195 (「산책하는 공동(空洞)―박솔뫼 소설에 대한 하나의 시선」, 김녕, 오늘의 문예비평 2018년 봄호, 195쪽)
Reference
Short Stories
Then What Shall We Sing? 그럼 무얼 부르지 (Jaeum & Moeum Publishing 자음과모음, 2014; Minumsa Publishing Group 민음사,2020)
Winter’s Gaze 겨울의 눈빛 (Moonji Publishing co., Ltd. 문학과지성사, 2017)
Beloved Dog 사랑하는 개 (Swimmingkul 스위밍꿀, 2018)
Our People 우리의 사람들 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2021)
The Dog of Trust Does Not Forsake Time 믿음의 개는 시간을 저버리지 않으며 (Swimmingkul 스위밍꿀, 2022)
At Yeongneung 영릉에서 (Minumsa Publishing Group 민음사, 2025)
Novels
Eul 을 (Jaeum & Moeum Publishing 자음과모음, 2010)
I Want to Write a Hundred Lines 백행을 쓰고 싶다 (Moonji Publishing co., Ltd. 문학과지성사, 2013)
Time in the City 도시의 시간 (Minumsa Publishing Group 민음사, 2014)
Slowly Head First 머리부터 천천히 (Moonji Publishing co., Ltd. 문학과지성사, 2016)
Night of the Internationale 인터내셔널의 밤 (Arte 아르테, 2018)
Silence Animal 고요함 동물 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2020)
Future Walking Rehearsals 미래 산책 연습 (Munhakdongne Publishing Corp. 문학동네, 2021)
Essays
Good Things Happen if You Fall Asleep Reading 책을 읽다가 잠이 들면 좋은 일이 일어남 (Wisdom House, Inc. 위즈덤하우스, 2024)
Co-authored
Instead of Waving Right Away 바로 손을 흔드는 대신 (Minumsa Publishing Group 민음사, 2023)
Profile information provided by the Arts Council Korea (ARKO)
LTI Korea 
DLKL 
SIWF 
