Seo Young-eun

Seo Young-eun
Hangeul	서영은
Hanja	徐永恩
Revised Romanization	Soo Yeong-eun
McCune- Reischauer	Sŏ Yŏngŭn
See also : Korean name

Seo Young-eun (born May 18, 1943 in Kangnŭng in Kangwon Province ) is a South Korean writer.

Life

Seo Young-eun was born on May 18, 1943 in Kangnŭng, Kangwon Province. Her family owned large estates and was therefore relatively wealthy. From the age of 11, she learned English from her older brother, who studied English at the Foreign Language University of Korea . After entering the Kangnŭng Middle School for Girls, her language skills made her a highly valued student, which eased her pathological shyness and reluctance to contact. During this time she read many novels by writers such as Chŏng Pi-sŏk , Kim Nae-sŏng and Kim Mal-bong .

From 1958 she studied at the Kangnŭng Pedagogical College. During this time she adored a teacher who wrote poetry, and she described this experience in her later novel The Golden Pen . Since she attended the pedagogical college against her will from the beginning, she spent her studies in melancholy. She took second place in the written aptitude test for teaching, but failed the practice test in dancing because she did not move. In 1963, she began to study English at Konkuk University , but dropped out two years later.

In 1968, her short story Die Brücke was awarded the prize for young writers by the magazine “Welt der Menschen” (Sasang segye). Her literary career began in 1969 after her short story Me and I was recognized by the monthly magazine "Literatur" (Wŏlgan munhak). From 1973 she worked for the new magazine "Korean Literature" (Hanguk munhak) and was strongly influenced during this time by editor Kim Tong-ni and editor-in-chief Lee Moon-gu. In 1987 she married her great teacher and lover Kim Tong-ni. She published How to Cross the Desert (1975), The Festival of Flesh and Bones (1977), The Golden Feather (1980), Zum Berg (1983) and The Far- Off Beloved (1983) and wrote mainly about the in a symbolic fable style Conflict of the ego. With an eye for the essentials, she gives meaning to the living conditions of reality in an absolute world.

After the death of her husband, she fell into an extreme psychological crisis for two to three years and almost gave up her literary work. In 1997 she began to publish her novel Ich und ich in the literary magazine "Literarischer Gedanke" (Munhak sasang) in monthly installments. Me and I signal a change in her literature that lets her step out of the influence of her husband, who left traces everywhere in her works. She is currently working on her new novel 꽃 들은 어디로 갔나 (Where did the flowers go?), Which she has been preparing for 10 years.

Work

Volumes of stories

• 사막 을 건너는 법 ( How to Cross the Desert ), Munhak yesulsa, Seoul 1977
• 살 과 뼈 의 축제 ( The Festival of Meat and Bones ), Munye pip'an, Seoul 1978
• 황금 깃털 ( The Golden Feather ), Nanam, Seoul 1984
• 사다리 가 놓인 창 ( The window with the ladder ), Munhak-kwa pip'yŏngsa, Seoul 1990
• 길 에서 바닷가 로 ( From the way to the sea ) Chakka chŏngsin, Seoul 1992

Novels

• 술래 야 술래 야 ( Blind Man's Cow ) Seoul: Taewondang 1981
• 그리운 것은 문 이 되어 ( The longed-for shall become a door ) Seoul: Ch'ŏngmaek 1989
• 나의 미끄럼틀 그리고 오후 ( My slide and the afternoon ) Seoul: Tonghwa sŏjŏk 1993
• 꿈길 에서 꿈길 로 ( From dream to dream ) Seoul: Ch'ŏnga ch'ulp'ansa 1995
• 그녀 의 여자 ( your wife ) Seoul: Munhak sasang 2000

Translations

German

• The Distant Beloved in: Korean Tales. Bilingual edition Korean / German, Seoul: Eul-Ji-Mun-Wha-Sa 1997

English

• A walk in the mountains Seoul: Hollym 2004

Awards

• 1983: Yi Sang Literature Prize
• 1990: Yŏnam Literature Prize

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 네이버 인물 검색: 서영은 Retrieved January 21, 2014 (Korean)
2. ↑ LTI Korea: 문인 DB: Seo Young-eun ( Memento of the original from October 31, 2014 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 July 8, 2013 (Korean). 
3. ↑ LTI Korea: Author Database: Seo Young-eun ( Memento of the original from October 31, 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 July 8, 2013. 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Seo is the family name here, Young-eun is the first name.