“A woman writing poetry / Is like playing with fire / Is like uprooting thunder raised inside the body, alone / Rain shrieks down in silence / Turning the earth into a blue season” (“Bureul Manjigo Noneun Yeoja” [“A Woman Playing with Fire”], Jigeum Jangmireul Ttara [Pick the Rose Now], MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2016)
Moon Chung-hee is a poet who restores women’s history based on feminine experience and awareness.
1. Life
Moon Chung-hee was born in Boseong, South Jeolla Province on May 25, 1947. She was the first generation to be educated in the Korean language in an independent nation free from Japanese rule. Her father, who belonged to the local elite, provided her with the best educational opportunities regardless of gender. At the age of twelve, Moon left home to study and began writing poetry to relieve her loneliness. After entering high school, she received many literary awards and published a poetry collection as a student, attracting attention. She attended college during a dictatorship, a period marked with ongoing student protests, and reflected deeply on political violence and human freedom and dignity. She married soon after graduating, but this experience made her realize the injustices of traditional Korean customs, leading her to focus on writing feminist poetry. She completed both undergraduate and graduate studies in Korean Language and Literature at Dongguk University and received her PhD in Literature from Seoul Women’s University. She served as the 40th president of the Society of Korean Poets.
2. Writing
Moon writes in bold poetic language rooted in unrestrained thought. Her poetry questions the source of vitality in a male-centered world, focusing on the female body, and restores respect for life that has been marginalized in contemporary society. Through a feminist lens, she challenges the meaning of femininity that oppressed women in the 1960s and 1970s. She also expresses women’s previously suppressed sexuality and desires through candid language. Her critical insight unfolds across a wide spectrum from her first poetry collection Munjeonghui Sijip (Moon Chung-hee’s Poetry Collection), published in 1973, to Ora, Geojit Saranga (Come, False Love), published in 2001. In the poem “Yuryeong” (“Ghost”) from her first collection, patriarchal violence is exposed through the voice of a daughter-in-law. In the poem “Meorireul Gamneun Yeoja” (“A Woman Washing Her Hair”) in Ora, Geojit Saranga (Come, False Love), this voice is further expanded into feminine fertility in nature and heightened awareness of life. It is evident that Moon has consistently explored women as a healing voice of life and as beings who overcome a wretched world. Furthermore, she aims to reclaim the meaning of women’s existence that is being socially erased through her identity as a woman and a feminist. Her epic poem Aunaeui Sae (The Bird of Aunae), which explores Yu Gwan-sun’s independence movement, can be seen as an indirect resistance to the enforced silence under the violent government in the 1980s. Her poetry collection Eung (Yes) features various historical female figures, including Shin Saimdang, Eoudong, Na Hye-seok, Heo Nanseolheon, and Wisława Szymborska, and in Jakgaui Sarang (A Writer’s Love), the “cries” of women suppressed by history, such as Kim Myeong-sun, Peggy Guggenheim, and Anna de Noailles, are restored.
Reference
Poetry Collections and Selected Poems
Munjeonghui Sijip (Moon Chung-hee’s Poetry Collection), The Literature Monthly, 1973
Saette (A Flock of Birds), Minhaksa, 1975
Honja Muneojineun Jongsori (A Lone Bell in Collapse), Munhakyesulsa, 1984
Jjille (Multiflora Rose), Jeonyewon, 1985
Aunaeui Sae (The Bird of Aunae), Irwolseogak, 1986
Haneulboda Meon Gose Maein Geune (A Swing That Hangs Beyond the Sky), Nanam Publishing House, 1988
Byeori Tteumyeon Seulpeumdo Hyanggiropda (When Stars Appear, Sadness Is Also Fragrant), Mihaksa, 1993
Guunmong (The Cloud Dream of the Nine), Dungji, 1994
Namjareul Wihayeo (For Men), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 1996
Ora, Geojit Saranga (Come, False Love), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2001
Yanggwibikkot Meorie Kkotgo (Woman on the Terrace), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2004
Naneun Munida (I Must Be the Wind), Woongjin Think Big, 2007
Dasanui Cheonyeo (A Maiden of Abundance), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2010
Kareumaui Bada (Karma Ocean), JoongangBooks, 2012
Eung (Yes), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2014
Jakgaui Sarang (A Writer’s Love), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2018
Oneureun Jom Chuun Sarangdo Joa (I Like Even a Little Cold Love Today), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2022
Ajik Jinagaji Aneun Geotdeulman Jinaganda (Only What Has Not Yet Passed Is What Passes), Bluepaper, 2017 (multiple authors)
Nae Momsogui Saereul Kkeonaejuseyo (Please Take Out the Bird Inside Me), Param Book, 2018 (multiple authors)
Fiction
Sarangi Yeollineun Namu (A Tree That Bears Love), Yeohaksaengsa, 1987
Sarangiyeo Annyeong (Farewell, O Love), Sunlight Publisher, 1990
Eodiseo Mueosi Doeeo Dasi Mannarya (Where and What Shall We Be When We Meet Again), Goryeowon, 1994
Essays
Jeoleun Gonoewa Sarang (Youthful Anguish and Love), Gwandong Publishing, 1976
Cheongchunui Mihak (The Aesthetics of Youth), Gwandong Publishing, 1978
Sarangui Geumureul Deonjirira (I Shall Cast the Net of Love), Munhak Yesulsa, 1984
Sasaegi Geuriun Pulbat (Grassland That Longs for Thought), Jayu Munhaksa, 1986
Saranggwa Usuui Sai (Between Love and Melancholy), Simji, 1986
Uri Yeonghoni Amhomun Hana (Our Souls, One Coded Message), Munsa, 1987
Neoui Deulpaneseo Baramkkocheuro (From Your Field to Your Windflower), Dongmunseon, 1988
Urireul Hollo Itge Haneun Geotdeul (What Keeps Us in Solitude), Munhak Sesangsa, 1988
Oneul Godokan Geudaeneun Areumdapda (You, Lonesome Today, Are Beautiful), Cheongmaek, 1990
Jisange Meomuneun Dongan (While Staying on Earth), Hyundae Munhak Publishing Co., Ltd., 1991
Oneul Gateun Nal, Naneun Meorireul Jareugo Sipeoyo (A Day Like Today, I Want a Haircut), Mihaksa, 1991
Unmyeonga Bikyeora Naega Ganda (Move Aside Fate, I’m Coming), Donghwa Publishing, 1992
Dangdanghan Yeoja (A Confident Woman), Dungji, 1992
Sesangeun Yeojaege Nalgaereul Jareugo Naragara Handa (The World Tells Women to Cut Their Wings and Fly Away), Dapge, 1993
Uriga Seororeul Alji Mothaetdeon Sigan (A Time We Didn’t Know Each Other), Mihaksa, 1994
Nunmul (Tears), Jipyeonjeon, 1997
Sapoui Cheotsarang (Sappho’s First Love), Segyesa, 1998
Miwanui Gido (An Unfinished Prayer), Saemi, 2000
Munhagui Dokkiro Nae Saleul Kkaewora (Wake My Life with the Axe of Literature), Dasan Books, 2012
Saraitdaneun Geoseun (To Be Alive Is), House in Mind, 2014
Chimyeongjeok Sarangeul Mothan Yeoldeunggam (The Complex of Never Being Fatally in Love), Munye Joongang, 2016
Siui Naraeneun Maehogui Bulkkotdeuri Sanda (Flames of Enchantment Live in the Land of Poetry), MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2020
Naui Sonyeosijeol (My Girlhood Days), Bumwoosa, 1982 (multiple authors)
Yukju Hong Gisamgwa Na (Yukju Hong Gisam and I), Tree of Thought, 2010 (multiple authors)
Yeojaui Mom (A Woman’s Body), Yeobaek, 2015 (multiple authors)
LTI Korea 
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