Occupation Poet, professor Role Poet Nationality Republic of Korea Education Konkuk University | Genre Poetry Literary movement Feminism Name Kim Hyesoon | |
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Books All the Garbage of the World, Unite!, I'm OK, I'm Pig! | ||
[Korean Literature Now] Beware when poets and poetry disappear: Interview with Kim Hyesoon
Kim Hyesoon (born 1955) (Hangul: 김혜순) is a South Korean poet.
Contents
- Korean Literature Now Beware when poets and poetry disappear Interview with Kim Hyesoon
- Kim hyesoon south korea
- Life
- Work
- Works in English
- Works in Korean Partial
- Essays
- Critical responses
- Awards
- References
Kim hyesoon south korea
Life
In 1955 Kim Hyesoon was born in Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do. She received her Ph.D. in Korean Literature from Konkuk University and began as a poet in 1979 with the publication of Poet Smoking a Cigarette (Dambaereul piuneun siin) and four other poems in Literature and Intellect. Kim is an important contemporary poet in South Korea, and she lives in Seoul and teaches creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Kim was in the forefront of women published in a literary journal, Munhak kwa jisŏng (Literature and Intellect).
Work
Kim started to receive critical acclaim in the late 1990s and it is her own belief that her work was partly recognized because at that time there was a generally strong wave of women’s poets and poetry.
Kim is the recipient of multiple literary prizes including the Kim Su-yŏng Literature Award (1996) for her poem, A Poor Love Machine, Sowol Poetry Literature Award (2000), and Midang Literature Award (2006), which are named after three renowned contemporary Korean poets. Kim was the first woman poet to receive the Kim Su-yŏng Literature Award, Midang Award, contemporary poetry award and Daesan Literary Award.
Kim’s poetry collections include: From another star (1981), Father's scarecrow (1984), The Hell of a certain star (1987), Our negative picture (1991), My Upanishad, Seoul (1994), A Poor Love Machine (1997), To the Calendar Factory Manager (2000), A Glass of Red Mirror (2004), Your First (2008), and Sorrowtoothpaste Mirrorcream (2011)Blossom, Pig(2016)
Kim has participated in readings at poetry festivals all over the world: Smith College Poetry Center (2003), Taipei Poetry Festival (2008), 41st Poetry International Festival Rotterdam (2010), Poesie Festival Berlin (2011), Poetry Parnassus London (2012), Stockholm international Poetry Festival(2014), Hong Kong International Poetry nights(2015) etc.
Kim's skill as a writer resides in her facility at combining poetic images with experimental language while simultaneously grounding her work in ‘feminine writing’ drawn from female experiences. Her language is violent and linguistically agile, appropriate for her topics which often center on death and/or injustice. Many times, Kim’s poetry is marked by the color of blood, as in “red baby,”“red embryonic fluid,”and “red dew.”
Works in English
Many translated into English by poet Don Mee Choi.
Added to The &NOW Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing (&NOW Books, 2013)
Works in Korean (Partial)
Essays
Critical responses
Ruth Williams. "“Female Poet” as Revolutionary Grotesque: Feminist Transgression in the Poetry of Ch’oe Sŭng-ja, Kim Hyesoon, and Yi Yŏn-ju." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 29.2 (2010): 395-415. Project MUSE. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.