Kim Byeong-eon

Kim Byeong-eon
Hangeul	김병언
Revised Romanization	Gim Byeong-eon
McCune- Reischauer	Kim Pyŏngŏn
See also : Korean name

Kim Byeong-eon (born January 2, 1951 in Taegu ) is a South Korean writer .

Life

Kim Byeong-eon was born in Taegu on January 2, 1951. He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Linguistics . From a literary point of view, Kim was a late bloomer; he did not publish his first novel until he was over forty. He spent the years following his graduation in five different jobs, including a trading company, a hotel, a construction company and a transport company. Spending longer than two years at one job at a time was like dull drudgery for him, which is why he not only had to change jobs, but also the profession in order to be satisfied.

While working for the construction company, he spent some time in a desert region in the Middle East, an experience that he used as a backdrop for his first collection of short stories. This experience can also be found again in the story Sacrifice to the Yellow Earth ( 황사 에 바치다 ), which is part of the anthology Südsee ( 남태평양 ).

He had when his story in 1992 his debut Gleanings ( 이삭 줍기 ) in the journal Literature and Society ( 문학 과 사회 was published). He then quit his job to devote himself full-time to literature. Based on his diverse life experiences, he pursued an orthodox-realistic style, unaffected by the prevailing literary trend. His works are celebrated for their consistent and tenacious sincerity.

Work (selection)

Korean

• 개 를 소재 로 한 세가지 슬픈 사건 Three Sad Stories About Dogs (1995)
• 천치 의 사랑 Idiot Love (1997)
• 이삭 줍기 Ährenlese (1992)
• 목수 의 칼 The carpenter's knife (1999)
• 남태평양 South Seas (2007)

Awards

• 2008: 한무숙 문학상 ( Han Mu-suk Literature Prize )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Naver 인물 검색: 김병언 Retrieved February 18, 2014 (Korean)
2. ↑ Author Database of the LTI Korea: Kim Byeong-eon ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2013 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 18, 2014 (English) 
3. ↑ 문학 과 지성사: 김병언 Retrieved February 18, 2014 (Korean)

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Kim is the family name here, Byeong-eon is the first name.