Bae Su-ah

Bae Su-ah
Hangeul	배수아
Revised Romanization	Bae Su-a
McCune- Reischauer	Pae Sua
See also : Korean name

Bae Su-ah (* 1965 in Seoul ) is a South Korean writer.

Life

Bae was born in Seoul in 1965. In high school, she started writing short stories. About her writing practice, she says: “My first stories were childish like comics , in terms of content, but at the time I found them funny to myself. But I didn't think I would be a writer. I'll do something else, I thought. Somehow it seemed too stereotypical to write novels full-time ”.

During her school days she found no interest in lessons and spent them quietly and alone reading. She then studied chemistry at Ewha Womans University and for a long time led a “life without reading and writing”. After graduating, she started working as a civil servant. One day in 1993 she found a competition for young writers in the winter edition of the literary magazine Prosa und Denk ( Sosŏl-gwa sasang ), which she happened to pick up because she thought the cover was pretty. Her short story Dark Room then won the prize in this competition in 1988, which marked her debut as a writer. Afterwards she practiced her two activities - as a civil servant and as a writer - in parallel for a long time.

Since her debut, each of her works has attracted critical attention. This was mainly due to the fact that she portrayed city life with her typical cynicism and a sharp and sensual style.

A few years ago she quit her job as a civil servant and chose to become a full-time writer. During several stays in Germany she learned German and now also writes in German. One of the fruits of her experiences in Germany is the essayist's novel Desk . When Bae became known in the Korean literary scene, interest turned not only to her provocative and cynical writing style, but also to her unusual profession. First she worked in the Ministry of Defense, then at the airport, where she was unable to travel long due to her few vacation days.

As a writer, she flies freely between Germany and South Korea and writes in the languages ​​of both countries. Her experiences in Germany made her novels even more solid, cooler and more philosophical. She describes herself as a person who has never led a safe and social life.

"I grew up experiencing frequent acts of violence". “I could never prepare for anything in life. I never saved money for later, always had bad grades at school and no friends and no one who could help me in real need without asking further. ”Now as a writer - a profession that had never been a childhood dream of her - she admits that she was slowly discovering her hidden ego. She learned to love herself by writing novels.

A main character from one of her novels says: “Until 40 I will only read and study alone, unless I have to earn money for a living. Until I am 40, I will focus on learning without paying any attention to what is happening in the world. By the age of 40, I'll be obsessed with studying only. [...] I don't need marriage or love and I will severely reproach myself if I feel like responding to other people for a moment. But when I finally turn 40 after a while, I will finish my studies at the university I founded. I don't want to doubt that I will appear as a much freer and clearer being than now. "

Work

Volumes of stories

• 푸른 사과 가 있는 국도 ( Country Road with Green Apples ) Chakka chŏngsin, Seoul 1992
• 바람 인형 ( wind puppet ) Munhak-kwa chisŏngsa, Seoul 1996
• 심야 통신 ( Communication in the Deep Night ) Haenaem, Seoul 1998
• 소설집 NO.4 (Volume No. 4. ) Thinking Tree, Seoul 2001

Novels

• 랩소디 인 블루 ( Rhapsody in Blue ) Koreawon, Seoul 1995
• 부주의 한 사랑 ( Careless love ) Munhakdongne, Seoul 1996
• 철수 ( Chŏlsu ) Chakka chŏngsin, Seoul 1998
• 붉은 손 클럽 ( Red Hands Club ) Haenaem, Seoul 2000
• 나는 이제 니 가 지겨워 ( Now you bore me ) Irŭm, Seoul 2000
• 이바나 ( Ibana ) Imago, Seoul 2002
• 동물원 킨트 ( Zoo child ) Igasŏ, Seoul 2003
• 에세이스트 의 책상 ( essayist's desk ) Munhak dongne, Seoul 2003
• 일요일 스키야키 식당 ( Sunday Sukiyaki Restaurant ) Munhak-kwa chisŏngsa, Seoul 2003
• 독학 자 ( self-taught ) Yŏllimwon, Seoul 2004

German

• A pack of black wolves. in: Sohyun Ahn (ed.): A very simple dotted dress. Translation of Heidi Kang. Pendragon, Bielefeld 2004, ISBN 9783934872578 .
• The moon is also worshiped in Zurich , in: NZZ, December 24, 2018, p. 19

Awards

• 2003: Hankook Ilbo Literature Prize
• 2004: Tongsŏ Literature Prize
• 2018: Writer in Residence in Zurich, invited by the Literaturhaus Zürich and the PWG Foundation

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 배수아 Retrieved January 21, 2014 (Korean).
2. ↑ Author Data Base ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 5, 2013. 
3. ↑ LTI Korea  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 5, 2013 (Korean).  
4. ^ Writers in Residence: Bae Suah. (No longer available online.) Literaturhaus Zurich, June 29, 2018, archived from the original on July 11, 2018 ; accessed on July 11, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Bae is the family name here, Su-ah is the first name.