Heo Gyun (許筠, 1569–1618) was a civil official, writer, thinker and reformer in the mid-Joseon period. He left a large body of writing opposing Korea’s medieval etiquette-based education and criticizing the social contradictions of his time. Heo met a tragic death by execution after being implicated in a case of treason.

Kim Ho Sik (1975-) is a South Korean novelist who gained online popularity in 1999 with comedic shorts. Kim’s serialized romance novel Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (엽기적인 그녀 My Sassy Girl) was published as a book, then adapted into the 2001 feature film My Sassy Girl. •Novel Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (엽기적인 그녀 My Sassy Girl) (2000)

The characters in Jeong Han-a’s fiction are all scarred people. Their scars often start from family relationships. In “Binbang” (빈방 The Empty Room), the father is having an affair, and in “Geurandeu mangsang hotel” (그랜드 망상 호텔 The Grand Illusion Hotel), the mother is an alcoholic. In “Opeunhauseu” (오픈하우스 Open House), the parents are so busy that they cannot really take care of what’s around them. In “Sinhaeng” (신행 New Behavior), the parents are dead. The child in “Geurandeu mangsang hotel” (그랜드 망상 호텔 The Grand Illusion Hotel) is unable to have normal relationships, and the child in “Opeunhauseu” (오픈하우스 Open House) has anorexia. The child in “Sinhaeng” (신행 New Behavior) marries a man who is certain to destroy her. As such, Jeong Han-a’s characters experience loss and scarcity, including the absence of family, lack of communication, loss of a romantic partner, and neglect toward reality. However, even as Jeong Han-a depicts the pains of such characters, she does not lose her optimism for life. The characters do not frivolously reveal their pains, or attempt to hold onto what they’re losing. They give up on things that they cannot do anything about, and do what they can. However, this doesn’t mean that they are powerless beings that succumb to reality. What is seen from the characters of Jeong Han-a is an attitude for autonomy in living life one their own, rather than limp compliance. To borrow the words of the literary critic Cha Mi-ryeong, “author Jeong Han-a has a small, but strong will, where she believes that even if she loses her ears and her legs to the brutal world, and end up on the bottom, she will still continue to dance, sing, and dream, and that she will start her life again with such belief.”

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.

Pak Jiwon was a scholar of the practical learning school (實學 Silhak) and one of the most recognized writers in the late Joseon period. He pursued the idea of iyonghusaeng (利用厚生, economic enrichment, convenient use of goods and sufficient food and clothing to improve people’s lives). Pak Jiwon was also known as the author of one of the most revered literary works of Korean literature, Yeolhailgi (熱河日記 The Jehol Diary).