The Sea Is Well (2017) is the fifth poetry collection of Lee Byungryul, whose poems have shaken the bounds of our hearts with their deep, aching gazes into the inexplicable desperation of life and bottomless sorrow. The Sea Is Well contains sixty poems written and appeared since the publication of The Snowman Inn, which garnered attention for the poet’s clear and passionate recognition of the self and the other by immersing himself in complete solitude.

In this collection, filled with language with its blades of sense and sensibility sharpened to their utmost poignancy, Lee Byungryul focuses on repeatedly questioning the place of humans derived from belief or, perhaps, on becoming closer to love. As poet Kim So Yeon writes, “[Lee Byungryul’s] poetry is neither shrouded in a grand statement nor easily replaced by scorn and pessimism, nor trying to lull you into believing life is good enough. Gathering the energy to endure dejection, he stands subtle but sturdy.”

Lee Byungryul began publishing his poems in 1995 when they were selected for Hankook Ilbo’s New Writers Contest. The winner of the 2006 Contemporary Poetics Prize, the 2018 Discovery Literary Award, and the 2021 Park Jaesam Literary Award, Lee Byungryul has authored You Are About to Head Somewhere, The Private Life of Wind, Splendor, The Snowman Inn, and The Sea Is Well, among others.