People do not understand each other based on birthplace and bloodline anymore. Rather, people can see clearer boundaries when they define each other via cultural and economic lines. Novelists are also the same. The author can be explained through his or her imagination, but that imagination is placed within the cultural boundaries that form a person’s life. Chung So-Sung is a part of the group that has been culturally influenced within the boundaries of French literature, which is rare in Korean literature, but still has considerable impact. Chung So-Sung, with a background as a graduate of Seoul National University’s French literature studies along with Yi In-seong and Choi Suchol, is a writer who has written novels that discuss the ideological problems and the loss of humanity from the reality of a divided country, as well as the resulting violence and oppression.

Nam Sang-sun (1963~) is a South Korean novelist. She made her literary debut in 1992 when her short story “San neomeoeneun gijeoksoriga” (산 너머에는 기적소리가 Over the Mountain) won the Munwha Ilbo New Writer’s Contest. Published in 1993, her novel Huin baemeul chajaseo (흰 뱀을 찾아서 In Search of the White Snake) won the 17th Today’s Writer Award. Novel Nabineun eotteoke anneunga (나비는 어떻게 앉는가 How a Butterfly Sits) (1995) Short story collection Dorajikkot sinbal (도라지꽃 신발 Bulberry Flower Shoes) (2021)

Cho Sun-hee won the grand prize for the second Korea Fantasy Literary Award with her full-length novel Go-ri-gol. Her other full-length novels include The Wizard and the Laundress Friga (two books in the series) The Key of Adon (seven books in the series), There, the Fox Paw Prints, Blue Tomb in Street Number 404, To Carve the Moon and Dry the Clouds (two books in the series), The Salt Scale, and To Kill a Maegu, and her collection of stories include The Modern Story of Patjwi and The Modern Story of Arang. Cho has won the 2015 Korea Story Competition with Nine Faber’s Oaks Asked. The Salt Scale and Nine Faber’s Oaks Asked have been signed for movie rights, and are in the script development phase.

Ku Kyeong-mi was born in 1972. A member of literary coterie Work (작업), she began to write fiction in 1996 and debuted through the Kyounghyang Daily Literary Contest. Ku’s fiction deals with people who live out their lives on the margins, those who’ve lost their purpose in life and must endure the remainder of their listless days. Her primary focus tends to be those who were laid off during the many restructurings at the turn of the millennium, giving her work a weight that her more form-conscious cohorts may lack. She has published novels targeted at young adult readers since 2012.

Ko Hyewon was born in spring when cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and she believes that our warmth has the power to transform the world. In 2019, Ko was honored with the Hankyung New Literary Writers’ Prize in the scenario category for Gyeonghee. In 2022, she won the first prize at the 1st KT Studio Genie Series Contest for Yeonhwa and the grand prize at the 2nd K-Story Contest for her full-length novel Rabbit. She aspires to keep crafting stories.