Kim Min-jeong (Hangul 김민정; born 1976) is a South Korean poet and literary editor.
1. Life
Kim Min-jeong was born in Incheon, South Korea in 1976. She studied creative writing at Chung-Ang University and also completed master’s level coursework there. She began writing for a magazine in her third year of university and later joined Random House Korea as an editor. She edited the Random House series of poetry collections, which served as a springboard for South Korean Futurist poets and made a large impact on the country’s poetry scene in the 2000s. As editor of the series, she discovered a number of young poets like Kim Kyung Ju and Hwang Byungsng. She became editor-in-chief at Random House Korea.
She made her literary debut in 1999 when Geomeun nanaui kkum (검은 나나의 꿈 Nana’s Black Dream) and nine of her other poems won the Munye Joongang Literary Award for Best First Poem. In the 2000s, she became a well-known poet and a leading literary editor. She currently serves as the President of Nanda Books, an imprint of Munhakdongne, and edits Munhakdongne poetry series and novels.
Kim won the 8th Park In-Hwan Literary Award and 17th Weolgan Contemporary Poetry Award. She has produced and edited many unconventional works and bestsellers including poetry collections, literary essays, travelogues by writers, and special features. She also teaches university courses.
2. Writing
Kim Min-jeong’s poems criticize the pretentious and male-dominated nature of the South Korean poetry scene. They bluntly expose social injustices using fierce poetic diction and imagination, and have served as a source of inspiration for later poets. Rejecting the dichotomy of “good versus evil” and “truth versus lies,” Kim’s works capture raw images of our times with intensity and wit. She ridicules the notion that poetry should be serious or mysterious, and has striven to make South Korean poetry more accessible. Themes of her poetry include the hope for a society without violence and hypocrisy.
Reference
1. [작가와 문학사이](14)김민정－허를 찌르는 솔직함
“Between a Writer and Literature: Kim Min-jeong and Her Disarming Frankness.” The Kyunghyang Shinmun. Last modified April 13, 2007.
http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=200704131525081&code=900308.
2. 시인 김민정 “시, 현실의 족쇄를 끊고 날아보게 해”
“Poet Kim Min-jeong: ‘Poetry Unshackles Me from Reality and Lets Me Fly.’” The Kyunghyang Shinmun. Last modified July 18, 2016.
http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201607172027015&code=960100#csidxd614d05b2a5426995fe7421cfd70726.
