Kwon Jeong-saeng (1937 – 2007) was a South Korean children's writer.
1. Life
Kwon Jeong-saeng was born Kwon Gyeongsu in Tokyo, Japan. In 1946, after the Liberation, the family returned to Korea, where they struggled with extreme poverty. At the age of 17, Kwon tried to earn enough money to attend middle school, but contracted pleurisy and then tuberculosis. He spent much of his twenties as an invalid.
In 1968 Kwon settled in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, as a church caretaker. His first story, "Gangaji ttong" (강아지똥 Puppy Poo,) won the 1st Christian Children's Literature Award hosted by the monthly Gidokgyo gyoyuk in 1969; he spent half the prize money on a pair of baby goats and the rest on rice. In 1971, his story "Agiyangui geurimja ttallangi" (아기 양의 그림자 딸랑이 Lamb’s Shadow, Ttallangi) was chosen as one of the winners of the Daegu Maeil Sinmun New Writer's Contest, and in 1973, "Mumyeong jeogoriwa eomma" (무명 저고리와 엄마 Mommy's Cotton Shirt) won the Chosun Ilbo New Writer's Contest. His first collection of children's stories, Gangaji ttong, was published in 1974. From January 1982 to March 1987, he serialized his children's novel Mongsireonni (몽실언니 My Sister Mongsil) in Saegajeong.
Kwon lived his entire life since settling in Andong in a small hut with a garden that was allowed to run wild. Despite the commercial success of his works, he rarely spent anything on himself, preferring to help others. After his death, he willed his royalties to be given back to children, as it is mostly children who have bought his books, endowing the Kwon Jeong-saeng Culture Foundation for Children.
2. Writing
Kwon’s own experience growing up as a son of a Korean laborer in Japan during the colonial period heavily influenced his literary imagination. However, while Kwon offers a fresh insight into the pain and sorrows of the common people caught in the turbulent period of Korea’s industrialization, he does not fail to discover a note of hope and power of resilience behind these dark lives. In his works, Kwon attempts to give an expression to the love he feels for all living things, for the people who retain a sense of hope even in hardship. Borrowing the perspective of children, Kwon is able to discover the truth and the innocence of life untainted by ideological concerns or social structures.
Kwon's representative work, Mongsireonni, is set in the tumult and tragedy of modern Korean history, illustrating the vivid effects on individual lives. In the midst of such great historical storms, the most pressing issue for the protagonist Mongsil is poverty. As her family is torn apart by poverty and put together again, Mongsil holds onto her faith in love and hope and keeps her spirits high despite the brutal times. Kwon once said that his books are widely read among various age groups because he chose to write about the trials and tribulations that all Koreans have experienced. He believed that stories of others in pain would comfort those in pain and even give them hope.
Kwon's debut story, "Gangaji ttong," was turned into a successful children's picture book with the illustrations of Jeong Seung-gak in 1996. In 2003 it was adapted into a claymation under the title of Doggy Poo directed by Kwon Oh-sung, which won Best Pilot at the 2003 Tokyo International Anime Fair.
