Kim Un (born 1973) is a South Korean poet.
1. Life
Kim was born in Busan. He studied industrial engineering and Korean literature at Pusan National University and earned his Ph.D in creative writing from Myongji University. Kim made his debut as a poet in 1998, with the publication of six poems including "Haebaragi" (해바라기 The Sunflower) in the journal Poetry and Thought. He has published seven collections of poetry, including Sumswineun mudeom (숨쉬는 무덤 Breathing Tomb), Geoin (거인 Giant), Soseoreul sseuja (소설을 쓰자 Let’s Write a Novel), Neoui aldagado moreul maeum (너의 알다가도 모를 마음 Your Heart that I Don't Understand), and Baekjiege (백지에게 To a Blank Sheet), as well as essays and poetic theory. Kim has received the Bongsaeng Literary Award, the Midang Literary Award, and the Park In-Hwan Literary Award.
2. Writing
Kim Un's poetry features the extreme exploration of language, making his poetic journey symbolized as a giant radically questioning the form of poetry. In his experiments, poetry has become the arrangement of words that wait for a certain happening, or incidental encountering. In a sense, the poet strives to weave the most secret relations with the world as well as the readers, rather than denying the communication.
Regarding his works, Sin Hyeong-cheol, the critic, has said "reading more than three of these poems a day will possibly result in the overheating and explosion of the reader's brain." And yet these poems "should be read." Far from being merely abstruse, they are creative poems that make possible the imagination of "other poems." In that respect, Kim is a poet who never ceases to explore the world, the nature of existence, and the principles of language. He seeks to say what cannot be said, to communicate with things with which one cannot communicate. He is a poetic fundamentalist who believes that the task of changing the world should begin with the task of changing the language, so much so that his pen name is "Un," meaning "language."
In Kim's poetry, the ultimate question regarding poetry is no different from an extreme exploration of language, which in turn is no different from a fundamental investigation of the domain of poetry. That must be why the poetic fundamentalist released a collection under the title, Soseoreul sseuja. He is not saying that he will actually write a novel, but that he will write a "different kind of poetry." His sixth collection, Neoui aldagado moreul maeum, takes this idea even further, with each poem structured like a short story unto itself. His latest collection, Baekjiege, returns to experimental form bending the confines of language, as well as quiet meditations on the poet's everyday life.
