Hwang In-suk (born 1958) is a South Korean poet.
1. Life
Hwang In-suk was born in 1958 in Seoul, Korea. She studied creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Hwang debuted in 1984 when she won the Kyunghyang Daily News New Writer’s Award with the poem "Naneun goyangiro taeeonarira" (나는 고양이로 태어나리라 I’ll Be Born as a Cat). Her publications include the poetry collections Saeneun haneureul jayuropge pureonoko (새는 하늘을 자유롭게 풀어놓고 The Birds Set the Sky Free), Seulpeumi nareul kkaeunda (슬픔이 나를 깨운다 Sadness Wakes Me), Jamyeonghan sanchaek (자명한 산책 The Evident Stroll), Riseubonhaeng yaganyeolcha (리스본行 야간열차 Night Train to Lisbon), Motda han sarangi neomu manaseo (못다 한 사랑이 너무 많아서 There’s So Much Love Left to Give), and Amu narina jeonyeokttae (아무 날이나 저녁때 On Any Given Evening); the novels Dodukgwaengi gongju (도둑괭이 공주 Stray Cat Princess), Jibung wiui saramdeul (지붕 위의 사람들 People on the Roof); and numerous essay collections. Hwang is the recipient of the Dongsuh Literary Award, the Kim Su-young Literary Award, the Hyeongpyeong Literary Prize, and the Hyundae Literary Award.
2. Writing
As in the line, "A neighborhood where cats no longer live/is a neighborhood empty of the human soul," from "Goyangireul butakae" (고양이를 부탁해 Look After the Cats), the poet values careful observance of one's surroundings, calling together poor, shabby, lonely beings, and giving them words of comfort so that our souls do not become empty. In this way, loneliness is treated as an important theme in her poetry. Hwang says, "If you look carefully, whether spirits or humans or things, somewhere someone is muttering 'I'm lonely.'" It is this "incurable disease," she says, that leads people to sink themselves in grief. Still, she finds the loneliness is not easily overcome. She writes about hopes that are always hiding somewhere. Those hopes are achieved through a poetic method that grasps at life's truths through pure language. She transmits this awareness to her readers. "Let's go back. To the beauty of language, the warmth of language, the softness of language. If we can do that, then we will grow closer to the beauty of life, the softness of life, the warmth of life."
