Kim Sin Yong

Kim Sin Yong
Hangeul	김신용
Hanja	金信龍
Revised Romanization	Gim Sin-yong
McCune- Reischauer	Kim Sinyong
See also : Korean name

Kim Sin Yong (born April 1, 1945 in Pusan ) is a South Korean writer and poet .

Life

Kim Sin Yong was born on April 1, 1945 in Pusan. His family was poor, the circumstances were chaotic, and there were no major celebrations for his birth. From an early age he experienced poverty, separation and death. At fourteen he lost his father and shortly afterwards his grandmother left him. Since his two older siblings also abandoned him, he had no choice but to leave the house with his three half-sisters. The following period was a period of wandering, with no permanent residence.

Kim's life on the street is detailed in his first collection of poems. He describes his various professions, such as B. porters, rickshaw drivers, extras in a film and employees of a clearance company in a village that was demolished due to a renovation project. He also writes about the time when he had to sell his blood in order to buy something to eat, about his life as a thief and finally about the time as a henchman for a gang in prison. He was jailed for the first time when he was sixteen. His life there was a relief compared to the hardships that awaited him outside. In prison he at least got something to eat, clothes and most of all he had time to read. It was better in prison than outside. He called it 'my classroom, my study'.

His poems are the record of a person who knows what life on the bottom of society is like. However, they do not contain the all-consuming anger towards society or the hostility one would expect from a poet with his background. He does not blame capitalist society for oppression of workers or contradictions in the social structure. His poems take an understanding look at the stressed lives of those who have ended up at the bottom of society and give them a warm hug. His poems speak in low voices, whispering comfort and reflecting the experiences of the workers.

Work

Korean

Poetry collections

• 버려진 사람들 People, Abandoned (1988)
• 개같은 날들 의 기록 Records from Miserable Days (1990) ISBN 8933810099
• 몽유 속 을 걷다 Sleepwalking (1998)
• 도장골 시편 Poems from the Tojang Valley (2007) ISBN 9788960210295

stories

• 고백 1 · 2 confession 1 + 2 (1994)
• 기계 앵무새 Machine Parrot (1997) ISBN 89-338-0092-1
• 달 은 어디에 있나 1 · 2 Where is the moon 1 + 2 (2003)

Awards

• 2005: 천상병 시상 ( Chŏn Sang-byŏng Poetry Prize )
• 2006: 노작 문학상 ( Nojak Literature Prize )
• 2006: 소월 시 문학상 우수상 ( Sowŏl Poetry Prize )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Korean Literature Authors Name Authority Database: 김신용 ( 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 26, 2014 (English) 
2. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 김신용 Retrieved February 26, 2014 (Korean)
3. ↑ Author Database of LTI Korea: Kim Sinyong ( 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 26, 2014 (English) 

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, Sin Yong is the first name.