Oz-Ko Contributors

Eun-Gwi Chung was born in 1969 in Kyungju, Korea. She received her Ph.D from the Poetics Program at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Now an Assistant Professor of English Department at Inha University, she is teaching American poetry and translation theory and practice. In 2005, she received the Daesan Foundation Translation Grant for Korean Literature and in 2010, a Translation Grant from the Korea Literature Translation Institute (KLTI). She has translated many poems including Lee Seong-bok’s Ah Mouthless Things and has also joined many KLTI translation projects. In January, 2010, she co-edited the special section “Korea Reunified?” of World Literature Today, introducing contemporary Korean poetry and novels to readers outside of Korea.

Ko Un (b. 1933) was born in Gunsan, Jeolla Province. Among over 70 volumes of poetry, his major poetry collections include The Nirvana Sensibility (1960), Going to Muneui Village (1974), Early Morning Road (1978), Star of the Fatherland (1984), Garden Verses (1986), Lineage of Ten Thousand Men (Vol. 1, 1987, Vols. 2-26, 2007), Baekdu Mountain 1 (Vol. 1, 1987, Vols. 2-7, 1994), The Dark of Your Eyes (1988), Seon Poetry, What? (1991), Dokdo (1995), Whisper (1998), Poems I Left Behind (2002), and Empty (2008). Going together with the modern history of Korea, the poet has explored, for all his life, the new way of poetic words opening the rebellious spirit of the age in a more vivid and real way than the history book does. He is the recipient of countless literary awards including Korean Literature Prize, Manhae Prize in Literature, etc, and has been nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Prize. As his poetry books have been translated into various languages, he has appealed to many readers of other countries.

KIM Hyesoon (b. 1955) was born in Wooljin, Kyungsang Province and made her literary debut in 1979. She studied Korean Literature at Konkuk University and currently teaches creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Her poetry collections include From Yet Another Star (1981), My Father’s Scarecrow (1985), Hell in Certain Star (1987), Seoul, My Upanishad (1994), Poor Love Machine (1997), To the Mananger of Calendar Factory (2000), A Cup of Red Mirror (2004) and Your First (2008). Having explored the female body with particular interest, her poetic words go deeper into the world of mundane existence in contemporary Korean society. Freely experimenting poetic forms and words deeply entrenched in female condition of life, the poet invites readers to rethink of the nature of experience in this world. Her collection Mommy Must be a Fountain of Feathers (translated by Don Mee Choi, Action Books, 2008) was recently reviewed in Cordite.

SHIM Bo Sun (b. 1970) was born in Seoul and studied sociology at Seoul National University and received his Ph. D from Columbia University. In his first poetry collection, Fifteen Seconds without Sorrow (2008), he challenges readers to encounter the “inevitableness” of beings in this post-capitalistic system. Crossing the quotidian cityscape, the poet sharply catches the logic that makes us move, makes the current system run. The image of streets, paths, silence, and shadow is precisely overlapped with the image of minds. He is currently a professor of culture and management at Kyung-Hee Cyber University.

LEE Si-young (b. 1949) was born in Gure, South Jeolla Province. He studied creative writing in Seorabeol Arts College and Korean Literature at the Graduate School of Korea University. He made his literary debut in 1969 and published lots of poetry collections including Full Moon (1976), Into the Wind (1986), Lightening Rod and Heart (1989), Pattern (1994), In Between (1996), Calm and Blue Sky (1997), Silver Whistle (Eunbit hogak, 2003), Ocean Lake (2004), For Our Dead People (2007). As a poet of delicate sensibilities, his poetry has always responded to our complex realities stained with war, violence, hatred, despair, and contamination.

KIM Ki-taek (b. 1957) was born in Anyang and made his literary debut in 1989. His major works include Fetal Sleep (1991), Storm in the Eye of a Needle (1994), Administrative Staff (1999), Ox (2005), and Gum (2009). He won various literary prizes with the poetry books such as Kim Sooyoung Literary Award (1995), Hyundae Literary Award (2000), and also published a few children’s books. In his poetry, the poet has focused on human physicality and the relationship between the body and the violence inflicted upon it. Upon the question ‘why do you write a poem?,’ he answers it is a way of enduring himself, of euduring materialized violence, of enduring everyday’s life.

SIN Yongmok (b. 1974) was born in Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province. He studied Contemporary Korean Literature at the Graduate School of Korea University. His literary debut was made in 2000 with the New Poets Award in Writers World. He has so far published two poetry collections: We Must Walk All of the Wind (2004) and The Wind's Millionth Molar (2007). His poetry is characterized by dense language on the inevitable tragedy of life and close attention to reality and internal darkness. In particular, he shows an interest in the lives of those on the fringes of this era.

KIM Myung-in (b. 1946) was born in Wooljin, Kyungsang Province and studied Korean Literature in Korea University. He made his literary debut in 1973 and his poetry books include Poetry collections Dongducheon (1979), Swanee Faraway (1988), Playing with a Blue Puppy (1994), A Funeral by the Sea (1997), Silence of a Road (1999) and Inflorescence (2009). He has won various literary awards including Sowol Poetry Award, Hyundae Literary Award, Daesan Literary Award, etc, and is currently teaching Creative Writing at Korea University. In his new poetry book, Inflorescence, the poet looks into the life of flower from the seed to blossoming and gazes at the cosmic process of life and death.

KIM So Youn (b. 1967) was born in Kyungju city and studied Korean Literature at Catholic University. She made her literary debut with the poem “We Celebrate” in 1993. Her poetry books include Coming to the Climax (1996), The Fatigue of Light Draws the Night (2006) and A Bone Called Tears (2009). Her other books include a children’s book, The Little Prince at Squid Island (1999), a picture book, Like a Ginko Tree (2004), and an essay book Mind Dictionary (2008). She now runs a library of children’s books, .

Kim Sa-in (b. 1955) was born in Boeun, North Chungcheong Province and studied Korean Literature in Seoul National University. He has published two volumes of poetry, Letter Written at Night (1987) and Quietly Liking (2006). His early poems were marked by the yearning for democracy and justice in the face of social injustice, and his recent poems strive for lyrical depth through compassion and sympathy with the world. He is the recipient of Hyundae Literary Award (2005) and Daesan Literary Award (2006) and now teaches creative writing at Dongduk Women’s University. As for him, writing poetry is to question things tirelessly and the poet is not just a questioner but also the person who tries to answer the questions and put the answers into practice.

SHIN Hae Wook (b. 1974) was born in Chooncheon. She studied Korean Literature at Hanlim University and the Graduate School of Korea University. She made her literary debut in 1998 and her poetry books include A Brief Arrangement (2005) and The Nature of Life (2009). In her second poetry book The Nature of Life, the poet focuses on “I-myself,” laying the gaps between I and the real. According to the poet, she tries to focus on the world of a side glance without taking her eyes off it. Drawing a weird, distorted portrait of our age, the poet is creating a world of minute silence written in the blank page between black letters.

KIM Un (b. 1973) was born in Busan and made his literary debut in 1998. His poetry books include The Breathing Tomb (2003), The Giant (2005), and Let’s Write a Novel (2009). His poetry features the extreme exploration of language, making his poetic journey symbolized as a giant radically questioning the form of poetry. In his experiments, poetry has become the arrangement of words that wait for a certain happening, incidental encountering. In a sense, the poet strives to weave most secret relations with the world as well as the readers, rather than denying the communication.

KIM Kyung Ju (b. 1976) was born in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province and studied Philosophy in Sogang University. He made his literary debut in 2003. His poetry books include I Am a Season that Does not Exist in This World (2006), A Weird Story (2008) and Appeasing the Eyes of Time Difference (2009). As a poet and playwriter, he has experimented and expanded the realm of poetic words in very characteristic, ever-changing modes of writing. As the first to discover the signs and spirit of the times, the poet is expected to evolve to attract the eyes of words and worlds.

HWANG Tong gyu (b. 1938) was born in Seoul, studied and taught English Literature at Seoul National University. His poetry collections include A Clear Day (1961), Snow Falling in Samnam (1975), When I See a Wheel, I Want to Make It Roll (1978), A Journey to Morundae (1991), Wind Burial (1995), A Love Song, Berkeley Style (2000), There Was the Moments When I Depended on Coincidence (2003), Silence of Flowers (2006) and 00:05, Winter Night (2009). He is the recipient of numerous honors, including Korean Literature Award (1980), Isan Literature Prize (1991), and Midang Literature Prize (2002), etc. His poetry, describing new awareness attained in the process of continual opening to the outer world and sincere conversation with the self, has always invited readers to participate in the process of awakening.

Kim Sun-Woo (b. 1970) was born in Kangnung and studied Korean Language Education at Kangnung University. She made her literary debut in 1996 and has been very active in various fields of writing from poetry to essays and fiction. Her works, featuring vital and sexual expression of ecofeminism and yearning for candid, harmonious relations with others, include If My Tongue Refuses to Stay Locked Inside My Mouth (2000), Asleep Under the Peach Blossoms (2003) and Who Fell Asleep Inside My Body (2007), as well as a collection of essays, When the Moon Under the Water Opened (2002), and the novels I Am Dance (2008) and Candle Flower (2010).

SONG Kyung Dong (b. 1967) was born in Beolkyo, South Jeolla Province. His poetry would be one of the most honest, the voice of his life full of fighting and struggle. His poetry books include Sound Sleep (2006) and Answer to Trivial Questions (2009). He is well-known as the poet of the streets, poet of the workers, portraying the vivid scenes of fighting, the memory of failure and death, and the nature of heartless capital. Rooted in the concrete reality of workers, his poetic words draw the most tragic landscapes of our hard times.

RA Hee-duk (b. 1966) was born in Nonsan, Chungnam Province and made her literary debut in 1989. She studied Korean Literature at Yonsei University and now teaches creative writing at Chosun University. Her poetry collections include To the Root (1991), The Words Stained the Leaves (1994), It Is Not That Far from Hear (1997), What It Means Grow Dark (2001), The Vanished Palm (2004), and Wild Apple (2009). As a recipient of numerous literary awards, she has explored the force of life and growth, new time for rebirth in this world, inviting so many readers to the mystery of life, unfathomable, strange, intimate, and near.

Park Hyung Jun (b. 1966) was born in Jeongup and studied creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts. He made his literary debut with the poem “The Power of Furniture” in 1991. His poetry collections include Now I will Speak of Extinction (1994), Mirror that Smells of Bread (1997), The Blades Grow On Into Water (2002) and Dance (2005). In a low voice, he has awakened the forgotten sensibility of contemporary life. While reading his poems, readers would be invited to enjoy his dexterous manipulation of Korean language.

JIN Eun-young (b. 1970) majored in philosophy at Ewha Womans University and Graduate School, receiving her Ph. D for her research on Nietzsche. Her poetry collections include Dictionary with Seven Words (2003) and Every day, We (2008). For her, writing poetry proves the most agreeable method of communicating and exchanging with the world. Perhaps her writing activities are, like the waving branches furthest from our reach, nothing but weak, fragile acts. But her poetic and philosophical distance from the center means she is free to come in contact with other beings and objects. For her, poetry is a surprise created by fingers stretching out to the world rather than to her own body.

Park Ra Youn (b. 1951) was born in Bosung, South Jeolla Province. She studied Korean Literature at Korea National Open University and got Ph. D at Wonkwang University. She made her literary debut in 1990. Her poetry collections include Pyunggang Princess Living in Seoul (1991), A Man Peeling off Raw Chestnuts (1993), While I Live Renting You (1996), My Garden in the Air (2000), The Cosmos Passed Away (2006) and Light’s P.O Box (2009). Her poetry continually reflects and finds the meaning of life even in the most desolate world. Her delicate words appealing to the sentiments of the public have been woven into beautiful lyric lines where sadness and happiness, pain and delight of life mix altogether.

LEE Seong-bok (b. 1952) was born in Sangju, Kyungsang Province. He graduated from Seoul National University, majoring in French literature. Poetry collections When Will the Rolling Stone Awake 1977), Namhae geumsan (1986), End of That Summer (1990), Your Suffering Cannot Turn One Single Leaf Green (2001), Ah, Mouthless Things (2003), Ripple Patterns on the Moon’s Forehead (2003). Vastly expanding the sphere of meaning to permit endless questions to be raised, his poetry makes us rethink of the fundamental relationship that lies beneath life. In his recent poetry book, Ah, Mouthless Things, the poet touches the beings and things existing on the fringe of the world in very sensitive words He. currently teaches French Language and Literature at Gyemyeong University.