Gong Sun-Ok

Gong Sun-Ok
Hangeul	공선옥
Hanja	孔善玉
Revised Romanization	Gong Seon-ok
McCune- Reischauer	Kong Sŏnok
See also : Korean name

Gong Sun-Ok (* 1963 in Koksŏng , Chŏllanam-do ) is a South Korean writer .

Life

Gong Sun-Ok made her literary debut in 1991 with the short story Feuersamen ( 씨앗 불 ). In contrast to most women writers who entered the literary arena in the 1990s and reported on their experiences as students at university , Gong had to drop out due to family problems. Gong's childhood was already marked by problems. Her mother suffered from health problems and her father, who had left the family early, led a vagabond life to avoid his creditors . Although Gong passed the university entrance exam, she was forced to drop out due to her financial situation. She worked as an employee in a factory and as a bus attendant for long-distance express buses. This may also be the reason why the women in Gong's stories tend to be at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, such as: B. the protagonist in Merry through the night ( 명랑한 밤길 ), who can give the man she loves nothing more than the vegetables from her garden, or the girl in This is life ( 그것은 인생 ), which a life as Renting nomad leads in a dilapidated building without heating or electricity and ultimately dies in a butane gas explosion.

Another motif that recurs in Gong's stories is the city of Kwangju . Her husband is one of the survivors of the bloody Kwangju Uprising in 1980, a democratic movement that was brutally suppressed by the Korean government. Gong lived not far from the scene of the riot, and the university she briefly attended was also in Kwangju. Her debut work Feuersamen depicts the harrowing experience and the resulting trauma of people who were actively involved in the uprising. Her representative short stories Thirsty Season ( 목 마른 계절 ), Alibi for my Life ( 내 생 의 알리바이 ) and the novel When I Was Most Beautiful ( 내가 가장 예뻤 을 때 ) are all set in Kwangju. Through her works, Gong depicts the suffering of the residents of Kwangju, who witnessed this cruelty.

Gong is a writer dedicated to telling stories about the poor and the oppressed. Her works are very different from those of other female writers who tend to write about intellectuals and the social elite. Nevertheless, one can definitely find hope in Gong's works - not the kind of hope that is only vaguely optimistic, but one that is found in the fighting will of people who try to live happily despite great pain. With infinite warmth and compassion, Gong gives these people a strong and unique voice.

Work

Korean

stories

• 피어 라 수선화 Blossom , daffodil! (1994) ISBN 978-89-364-3631-5
• 오지리 에 두고 온 서른살 My thirties that I left behind in Oji-ri (1995) ISBN 978-89-7002-061-7
• 시절 들 Seasons (1996)
• 내 생 의 알리바이 Alibi for my life (1998) ISBN 978-89-364-3651-3
• 수수밭 으로 오세요 Come to the millet field (2001) ISBN 978-89-85554-64-0
• 멋진 한 세상 A great life (2002) ISBN 978-89-364-3667-4
• 붉은 포대기 The Red Blanket (2003) ISBN 978-89-7002-135-5
• 유랑 가족 The Wandering Family (2005) ISBN 978-89-392-0507-9
• 명랑한 밤길 Cheerful through the night (2007) ISBN 978-89-364-3702-2
• 나는 죽지 않겠다 I will not die (2009) ISBN 978-89-364-5615-3
• 내가 가장 예뻤 을 때 When I Was Most Beautiful (2009) ISBN 978-89-546-0811-4

prose

• 자운영 꽃밭 에서 나는 울었네 I wept in the tragacanth bed (2000) ISBN 978-89-364-7058-6
• 사는 게 거짓말 같을 때 When Life Seems Like a Lie (2005) ISBN 978-89-8163-122-2
• 행복한 만찬 Happy Feast (2008) ISBN 978-89-546-0573-1
• 마흔살 고백 Confession at Forty (2009) ISBN 978-89-8481-252-9

Children's books

• 상수리 나무집 사람들 The people of the chestnut tree (2005) ISBN 978-89-5924-404-1
• 울지마 샨타 Don't Cry , Santa (2008) ISBN 978-89-255-1783-4

biography

• 윤영규 Yun Yŏng-gyu (2008) ISBN 978-89-91057-41-8

Translations

Spanish

• La familia itinerante (Yuranggajok), Ediciones del Ermitaño (2008)

Awards

• 1992: 여성 신문 문학상 ( Literature Prize of the Yŏs Literaturng Sinmun )
• 1995: 신동엽 창작 상 ( Sin Tong-yŏp novel prize )
• 2004: 오늘 의 젊은 예술 가상 ( Prize for Young Artists of Today )
• 2005: 올해 의 예술상 ( Annual Art Prize )
• 2008: 백신애 문학상 ( Paek Sin-ae Literature Prize )
• 2009: 가톨릭 문학상 ( Catholic Literature Prize )
• 2009: 오영수 문학상 ( O Yŏng-su Literature Prize )
• 2009: 만해 문학상 ( Manhae Literature Prize )
• 2011: 요산 문학상 ( Yosan Literature Prize )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Korean Literature Authors Name Authority Database: 공선옥 ( 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 January 29, 2014 
2. ↑ 한국 현대 문학 대사전: 공선옥 Retrieved January 29, 2014 (Korean)
3. ↑ Author Database of LTI Korea: Gong Sun-Ok ( 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 January 29, 2014 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Gong is the family name here, Sun-Ok is the first name.