Recipient of the 2026 Arts Council Korea Literature Fellowship
The stone buddha/closes his eyes, opens them again, and becomes a pile of sand/Blink and you'll miss it//Don't say/everything went by so fast/The moon takes a whole month to wink just once —Lee Jeonglock, "Slow Love," in Chairs (Moonji Publishing co., 2006)
Lee Jeonglock is a poet who takes down breaths from the lowest places and raises up sentences brimming with the warmth of life.
1. Life
Lee Jeonglock was born in Hongsong, South Chungcheong Province, in 1964. He was inspired to become a poet in his second year of high school, when he first encountered the poems of Han Yong-un. Lee completed his degree in Sino-Korean classics education at Kongju National University's department of in 1985, and made his literary debut in 1993 winning the poetry category of the the Dong-A Ilbo New Writer's Contest. Starting in 1985, he taught at secondary schools for 37 years before taking voluntary retirement in 2022. He now writes full time at his Iyagi Balmyeong Yeonguso (story creation lab), or Ibalso, and refers to himself as a barber, a play on words as "ibalso" means "barber shop" in Korean.
2. Writing
Lee Jeonglock's poetry may be best summed up as the warm language of life, land, and the all-encompassing "mother." Rather than cold intellect or ambitious discourse, his poems rely on the scent of dirt under bare feet and broad dialect to evoke the essence of life. The poet's sensitive gaze does not miss the smallest of beings, capturing the way of nature and Buddha-nature in all things. While Lee's earlier work depicts the healthy vitality of everyday life and scenery in the countryside, he had expanded his poetic horizons to include deep communion with objects in his later work. Working in humorous, warm brushstrokes, the poet uncovers the meaning of the universe in a single tree or a single insect. The poet's gaze upon such "lowly" beings offers not sensational thrills but gentle comfort and peace to the reader.
More than anything, Lee's poetic imagination draws upon his mother's stories. The oral tradition of his maternal side is transmuted into philosophical metaphor through the poet's hands. Even the humblest, coarsest sides of life are transformed into the holiest of psalms celebrating life through his sentences. One might call it the perfect distillation of the poet's characteristic optimism and respect of life in language form.
The poet's recent interest in children's poetry and fable refines his affection of his poetic subjects to an even purer level. Gazing at the world through a child's point of view, taking full advantage of the rhythm of language, his poems are proof of everyday magic at work. In the end, Lee's artistic process comes down to weaving a vast web of life in which all beings are interconnected, through which flows a deep love that soothes this age.
Reference
Poems
Snug as a Bug in a Rug 벌레의 집은 아늑하다 (Munhakdongne Publishing Corp. 문학동네,1994)
Wrinkles on a Green Apple 풋사과의 주름살 (Moonji Publishing co., Ltd. 문학과지성사,1996)
I’d Like to Rent Under the Bark of a Willow Tree 버드나무 껍질에 세들고 싶다 (Moonji Publishing co., Ltd. 문학과지성사,1999)
Violet Hotel제비꽃 여인숙 (Minumsa Publishing Group 민음사,2001)
Chairs 의자 (Moonji Publishing co., Ltd. 문학과지성사,2006)
Really 정말 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비,2010)
Mother’s School 어머니학교 (Yolimwon 열림원,2012)
Father’s School 아버지학교 (Yolimwon 열림원,2013)
Oh Well 까짓것 (Changbi Edu 창비교육,2017)
Dictionary of Children’s Language 동심언어사전 (Munhakdongne Publishing Corp. 문학동네,2018)
To the Me I Haven't Become Yet 아직 오지 않은 나에게 (Sakyejul Publishing Ltd 사계절,2020)
What Makes Life Worth Living 눈에 넣어도 아프지 않은 것들의 목록 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2019)
There Are Times like That 그럴 때가 있다 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2022)
Only Half 반할 수밖에 (Danbi Youth 단비청소년,2025)
Essays
The Poet's Drawer 시인의 서랍 (Hankyoreh Publishing 한겨레출판, 2012)
When I Can’t Write Poems I Take the Bus 시가 안 써지면 나는 시내버스를 탄다 (Hanibook 한겨레출판, 2018)
Children's Poems
My Nostrils Are So Busy 콧구멍만 바쁘다 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2009)
Haven’t I Grown a Lot? 저 많이 컸죠 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2013)
The Taste of Earth 지구의 맛 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2016)
It’s Tough Being Nine 아홉 살은 힘들다 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2022)
No Matter How Far You Go, Waves Are Still Waves 파도는 파도 파도 파도 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2025)
Picture Books
Poop Shields 똥방패 (Changbi Publishers, Inc. 창비, 2015)
Snail School 달팽이 학교 (Bawoosol 바우솔, 2017)
The Bull Wind 황소바람 (Bawoosol 바우솔, 2019)
No! 아니야! (Munhakdongne Publishing Corp. 문학동네, 2021)
Welcome to the Great Wall of China 어서 오세요 만리장성입니다 (Kinderland 킨더랜드, 2021)
The Hearts of Trees 나무의 마음 (Danbi Children's 단비어린이, 2023)
Prince Duckling 오리 왕자 (Bawoosol 바우솔, 2023)
Chairs 의자 (Bawoosol 바우솔, 2024)
Boy, Was He Fast 참 빨랐지 그 양반 (Munhak Sesang 문학세상, 2025)
Children's Books
10-Won Pile O’ Poop 십 원짜리 똥탑 (Munhakdongne Publishing Corp. 문학동네, 2006)
The Best Artist 미술왕 (Hanibook Children's 한겨레아이들, 2014)
Son and Father 아들과 아버지 (Danbi Children's 단비어린이, 2021)
Change the Water 노는 물을 바꿔라 (Danbi Children's 단비어린이, 2023)
Profile information provided by the Arts Council Korea (ARKO)
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