Ku Hyoseo (born 1958) is a Korean author.
1. Life
Ku Hyoseo was born in Incheon, South Korea, in 1958. Ku began his literary career in 1987 with the short story "Madi" (마디 Joints), winning the JoongAng Ilbo New Writer's Contest. Ku is a prolific writer who has published some forty books over a career spanning more than three decades. His most recent works are the short story collection Ungeoui mat (웅어의 맛 The Taste of Anchovies) and the novel Ppang joahaseyo? (빵 좋아하세요? Do You Like Bread?). Ku's best known works include Sigyega geollyeotdeon jari (시계가 걸렸던 자리 Where the Clock Hung), Nagasaki Papa (나가사키 파파 Nagasaki Papa), Bimirui mun (비밀의 문 Secret Door), Neupeul geonneoneun beop (늪을 건너는 법 How to Cross a Swamp), Raepsodi in bereullin (랩소디 인 베를린 Rhapsody in Berlin), and Jeonyeogi areumdaun jip (저녁이 아름다운 집 A House with a Beautiful Sunset View).
Ku is the recipient of the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, the Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award, the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award, the HMS (Hahn Moo-Sook) Literary Prize, the Daesan Literary Award, the Dong-in Literary Award, and the Yi Sang Literary Award, among others. His books in translation include Raepsodi in bereullin and Myebyeol (몌별 Sorrowful Separation) in Chinese and Nagasaki Papa in Japanese.
2. Writing
Ku is an eclectic writer. His literary style spans a wide spectrum, to the extent that no other Korean writer is as difficult to pin down as him. He has even been referred to as a “nomadic writer” as a result. To that extent, he has endlessly pursued and experimented with new and diverse styles. Ku's early works are known for their realistic style centered on history and society. His debut work, "Madi," addressed the suffering of women in modern Korean history, from the time of the Korean War to the Gwangju massacre. The stories in his first collection, Noeureun dasi tteuneunga (노을은 다시 뜨는가 Will the Sunset Come Again), show how the suffering of modern history lingers in the suffering of individuals.
In the 1990s, Ku began to explore a range of possibilities in literary fiction. In addition to the novel, Radio Radio (라디오 라디오 Radio, Radio), that reminisced romantically on folk ways and traditional agricultural society, his second collection, Hwakseonggiga isseotgo jeogyeokbyeongi isseotda (확성기가 있었고 저격병이 있었다 There Were Loudspeakers and Snipers), exposes the violence behind the mechanisms of information. The stories in his collection, Geunyeoui yawin ppyam (그녀의 야윈 뺨 Her Thin Cheeks), stand out for their allegorical or fantasy structures that question the meaning of creative writing and the literary institution. The collection, Kkangtongttagaega eomneun maeul (깡통따개가 없는 마을 Village Without a Can Opener), and the novel, Natseon yeoreum (낯선 여름 An Unfamiliar Summer), address the emptiness of city life in an industrial society. Reminiscent of Borges and Eco, Bimirui mun is a novel about history and religion. He has also published a three-volume work on love and separation: Jeongbyeol (정별 Heart's Separation), Myebyeol, and Aebyeol (애별 Grievous Separation). Having been born in a country village with no electricity or radio, Ku Hyoseo has said that he marvels at the fact that he lives in an era where the world can be seen at a glance through television and the internet. He can be described as a writer who constantly searches for new directions in literature without turning his back on rapid social changes.
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