Kim Sun-Woo

Kim Sun-Woo
Hangeul	김선우
Hanja	金宣佑
Revised Romanization	Gim Seon-u
McCune- Reischauer	Kim Sŏnu
See also : Korean name

Kim Sun-Woo (* 1970 in Kangnŭng , Kangwon-do ) is a South Korean writer and poet .

Life

Kim Sun-Woo was born in Kangnŭng, Kangwon-do in 1970 and began her career in 1996 when some of her poems were published in the journal Literary Creation and Criticism ( 창작 과 비평 ).

According to the poet Na Hŭidŏk , Kim's poetry is full of 'shameful yet intense sensuality, reminiscent of damp petals' and 'her femininity radiates richness, like that of embryonic fluid'. The women in her poems are 'embryos, mothers and midwives rolled into one'. The image of women as generous, life-giving and life-affirming beings dominates her first collection of poems When my tongue does not want to stay calm in my mouth ( 내 혀 가 입 속에 갇혀 있길 거부 한다면 ).

The celebration of the female body is often accompanied by the loathing of oppression by the male world. In the title poem, Kim portrays the feminine desire for freedom from masculine oppression through a series of disturbing images such as a baby's skull hanging around its mother's neck or a torrent of decapitated camellias. The protagonist is forced to make strips of new ones Sewing skin to a monster that keeps getting bigger and bigger. Her attempt to kill the monster fails due to the fact that her tongue is trapped in its mouth.

Infused with rhetorical beauty and sensitivity, Kim's poetry marks a new chapter in Korean women's literature.

Work

Korean

Poetry collections

• 내 혀 가 입 속에 갇혀 있길 거부 한다면 When my tongue won't stay calm in my mouth (2000) ISBN 8936421948
• 도화 아래 잠들다 Asleep under peach blossoms (2003) ISBN 9788936422295
• 내 몸속 에 잠든 이 누구 신가 Who is it that sleeps in my body (2007) ISBN 9788932017907
• 물 밑에 달 이 열릴 때 When the moon opens under the water (2002)

fairy tale

• 바리 공주 Princess Pari (2003)

Collections of prose

• 물 밑에 달 이 열릴 때 When the moon opens under the water (2003)
• 김선우 의 사물 들 Kim Sun-Woo's Private Property (2005)
• 내 입 에 들어온 설탕 같은 키스 들 A Sugar-Sweet Kiss (2007) ISBN 8936421948
• 우리 말고 또 누가 이 밥 그릇 에 누웠 을까 Was there anyone else in that rice bowl besides us? (2007)

Translations

German

• Asleep under peach blossoms ( 도화 아래 잠들다 ), Edition Delta (2009) ISBN 978-3927648234

Awards

• 2004: 제 49 회 현대 문학상 ( Prize for Contemporary Literature )
• 2007: 제 9 회 천상병 시상 ( Ch'ŏn Sang-byŏng Poetry Prize )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Korean Literature Authors Name Authority Database: 김선우 ( 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 25, 2014 
2. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 심 선우 Retrieved February 25, 2014 (Korean)
3. ↑ Author Database of LTI Korea: Kim Sun-Woo ( 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 25, 2014 

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, Sun-Woo is the first name.