Choi Youngmi (born 1961) is a Korean poet. She graduated the undergraduate program in western history at Seoul University, and received her master's degree in art history from Hongik University Graduate School. Her career as a poet began after the Quarterly Changbi published "Sokcho-eseo (속초에서, In Sokcho)" and seven more poems of hers, in its 1992 winter edition. Her first poetry collection Seoreun, janchineun kkeutnatda (서른, 잔치는 끝났다, For a Thirty-Year Old, the Party's Over) was published in 1994 and sold over a half million copies, becoming a significant work of her times. She has published five poetry collections so far. Notably, her third poetry collection Doejideurege (돼지들에게, Dear, Pigs), published in 2005, was recognized for its literary value after its title piece won the 13th Isu Literature Awards (이수문학상) in 2006.
1. Life
Choi was born on September 25, 1961, in Seoul. She attended the College of Humanities of Seoul University and joined the campus club Society for Research on Classics, whose members were actively participating in student activism at the time. During her sophomore year, she took part in a campus demonstration before the police took her to the station and detained her for ten days, for which the university suspended her for two years. After graduation, she worked as a volunteer at the Minjung Party when it had just been established, and played a part in the collective translation of The Capital. In 1991, an older friend, who was working as a journalist at the culture desk of a daily newspaper, helped her to publish her poetry through a publishing house. Then, in the same year, her career as a poet began after the Quarterly Changbi published "Sokcho-eseo (속초에서, In Sokcho)" and seven more poems of hers, in its 1992 winter edition. Her first poetry collection Seoreun, janchineun kkeutnatda was published in 1994 and became a bestseller, which was a rare occasion for a poetry collection, so that it was noted by the literary world but also appreciated by a wide readership. In 1995, she acquired her master's degree in art history from Hongik University Graduate School. After two years, in 1997, she published the collection of travel essays Sidae-ui u-ul (시대의 우울, The Melancholy of Our Times), based on her experience of travelling around the cities in Europe. In 2005, her third poetry collection Doejideurege came out with her first novel Hyungteowa munui (흉터와 무늬, Scars and Patterns), for which she was recognized as a competent novelist. She won the 13th Isu Literature Awards for Best Poetry in 2006 for her poem "Doejideurege." In 2017, she published the poem "Goemul (괴물, The Monster)" in the winter edition of the quarterly Hwanghae Review, to denounce the sexual harassment and violation prevalent in the literary world.
2. Writing
Choi's 1994 poetry collection Seoreun, janchineun kkeutnatda was a refreshing inspiration to her contemporary writers and readers, who were immersed in a sense of futility that followed the politically dark ages of the 1980s. The main theme of the book is the conflict between the two subjects, 'love' and 'revolution.' Her delicate yet bold language, precise metaphors, and shrewd satire of the capital and the power have created the wide readership of all generations. The poems in this book have been highly acclaimed for honestly describing an individual's emotions, liberated from too serious a tone. However, some criticized them for being 'a commercial reproduction of a former student activist's reminiscence.' The title piece "Seoreun, janchineun kkeutnatda" has a lyrical atmosphere, talking about the 'love' and 'longing' she felt as an individual when her times called for nothing but 'revolution.' The verses "I liked being an activist more than activism/drinking with people more than the taste of liquor" are the confession and reflection of the 1980s generation. And she announces the end of the 1980s life style and portrays the disillusionment with and the triteness of the two values, revolution and love, in poems like "Majimak sekseu-ui chu-eok (마지막 섹스의 추억, The Memory of the Last Sex)" and "Meonjeo, geugeosi (먼저, 그것이, This, Above All)," which also deal with the issues of sexual identity and human dignity.[1]
Her third poetry collection Doejideurege, published in 2005, is made up of the 'Doejideurege' series, poems about travelling in search of the identity, lyrical poems conveying the frustration and reinvention of the daily life, and poems about soccer. Actually, Choi is interested in soccer so much that she published in 2011 the collection of essays on soccer Gong-eun sarameul gidariji anneunda (공은 사람을 기다리지 않는다, The Ball Waits for No One), in which she shows her wit by satirizing the political situations through the subject of soccer in "Jeong-uineun chukgujang-eman itda (정의는 축구장에만 있다, Justice Only Exists in Soccer Fields)." The title piece of her third poetry collection "Doejideurege" delves into greed, comparing it to a 'pig,' a 'fox,' and 'pearls.' For this poem, she won the 13th Isu Literature Awards in 2006, after 15 years of her career as a poet. It was commended for "proving the raison d'être of poets, who are the conscience of our times, by pointing out the weakness of the Korean society, its hypocrisy, lies, and complacency."
The 2013 poetry collection Imi ddeugeoun geotdeul (이미 뜨거운 것들, Things That Are Already Hot) reveals that her interest has moved from political issues to passionate love, family history, and the life of her own. It contains poems like "Jeongchi-in (정치인, The Politician)," "Seonggonghan yeoseong (성공한 여성, The Successful Woman), " "Sinchonui yet punggyeong (신촌의 옛 풍경, The Old Scenery of Sinchon)," "Hotelbang-eseo (호텔방에서, At a Hotel Room)," "Yuchihan si (유치한 시, A Childish Poem)," "Jigeumeun sarajin yoksireseo (지금은 사라진 욕실에서, In the Bathroom That Is Gone Now)," "Seworui sinbaljang (세월의 신발장, The Shoe Closet of the Times)," "Ggumi bbajyeonagan jumeoni (꿈이 빠져나간 주머니, A Pocket From Which the Dreams Slipped)," and others.
Her first full-length novel Hyungteowa munui, published in 2005, is a coming-of-age story of a girl. The protagonist, Hakyeong, who works as a TV writer, questions the death of her older sister and starts to uncover the truth behind it. The memories from her childhood—the memories she wants to find, those she has erased, and those she wants to relive—become her moments of struggle. Choi portrays, through the medium of novel, a person shaped by the painful memories from her childhood as well as the pains that a person has to endure to grow.
Her second novel Cheongdong jeongwon (청동정원, A Bronze Campus), published in 2013, is the collection of the pieces that she serially published in the quarterly Literature Today for a year from the summer of 2013. The title Cheongdong jeongwon signifies the campus full of green trees invaded by the armed riot police, a metaphor for the times when the students had to face the armed police with nothing but their bodies. Her delicate language describes the fresh yet desolate days of her youth, viewed from the eyes of a novelist, with the heart of a poet.
Recently, she published the poem "Goemul (괴물, The Monster)" in the 2017 winter edition of the quarterly Hwanghae Review, to denounce the sexual harassment and violation widespread in the literary world. While it criticizes a certain poet for his sexual harassment, it also raises questions as to the prevalence of sexual violence not only in the culture and art world but also in all the other areas of our society.[2]
Reference
[1] Ryu Geun, "On the Bestseller Poetry Collections Since the 1980s," (Master's Thesis, Chung-Ang University), 2019.
[2] "[Interview] Poet Choi Youngmi Speaks out on #MeToo in the Culture World," JTBC News, February 6, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOY-cn_lJkY.
