Choi Il-nam

Choi Il-nam
Hangeul	최일남
Hanja	崔 一 男
Revised Romanization	Choe Il-nam
McCune- Reischauer	Ch'oe Ilnam
See also : Korean name

Choi Il-nam (born December 29, 1932 in Chŏnju , Chŏllabuk-do ) is a South Korean writer .

Life

Choi Il-nam was born on December 29, 1932 in Chŏnju, North Chŏlla Province. Until 1956 he studied Korean language and literature at the Seoul National University . He completed postgraduate studies in the same subject at Korea University in 1960.

He made his debut in 1956 with the novel P'ayang (파양). In addition to his work as a writer, he began a career in journalism. Among other things, he worked as head of the cultural section for the newspapers Min'guk Ilbo , Kyunghyang Shinmun and Dong-a Ilbo and later became editor-in-chief at Dong-a Ilbo. However, he had to give up this post in 1980 when the military regime took over the press system. In 1984 he continued his journalistic career and was also committed to the democratization of the press.

He has been a member of the Academy of Arts of Korea since 2002 and was head of the literature department there from 2005 to 2007.

Choi Il-nam's works can be divided into two categories. In his early works, before 1980, the content often revolves around people from the countryside who are successfully starting a new life in a rapidly developing industrialized city. Despite the success of the characters, the author tries to depict the darker side of industrial development and shows what sacrifices are made in rural areas that should be developed into industrial zones. After the author was released from journalism in 1980, his content changed to more intense criticism of social reality. With his writing, Choi does not engage in harsh social criticism, but rather shows everyday human egoism.

Work

Korean

• 서울 사람들 People in Seoul (1975)
• 타령 Tʼaryǒng (1977)
• 흔들리는 성 The Rocking Castle (1981)
• 누님 의 겨울 My Sister's Winter (1984)
• 그리고 흔들리는 배 And the Rocking Boat (1984)
• 기쁨 과 우수 를 찾아서 Finding Joy and Tribulation (1985)
• 장씨 의 수염 Mr. Chang's Beard (1986)
• 숨통 trachea (1989)
• 그때 말이 있었네 Back then there was talk (1989)
• 히틀러 나 진달래 Hitler or Azaleas (1991)
• 하얀 손 White Hand (1994) ISBN 89-7012-122-6
• 만년필 과 파피루스 Fountain Pen and Papyrus (1997) ISBN 89-8218-024-9
• 아주 느린 시간 Very Slow Time (2000) ISBN 89-8281-332-2
• 석류 Pomegranate (2004) ISBN 89-7275-281-9

Translations

English

• The Love Wolf In: Anthology of Korean Literary Vol.1 , Dong-Suh Munhaksa (1988)

Awards

• 1975: 월탄 문학상 ( Wǒltʼan Literature Prize )
• 1981: 한국 창작 문학상 ( Korean Creative Writing Award )
• 1986: 이상 문학상 ( Yi Sang Literature Prize )
• 1994: 인촌 상 ( Inch'on Prize )
• 2012: 제 61 회 서울 특별시 문화상 문학 부문 ( Seoul Culture Prize Category Literature )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Korean Literature Authors Name Authority Database: 하성란 ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed on February 27, 2014 (English) 
2. ↑ 네이버 지식 백과: 최일남 , accessed February 27, 2014 (Korean)
3. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 최일남 , accessed February 27, 2014 (Korean)
4. ↑ Author Database of LTI Korea: Choi Ilnam ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2013 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. , accessed on February 27, 2014 (English) 
5. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 최일남 , accessed February 27, 2014 (Korean)
6. ↑ Author Database of LTI Korea: Choi Ilnam ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2013 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. PDF, accessed on February 27, 2014 (English) 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Choi is the family name here, Il-nam is the first name.