“In the heat that never cooled even with the arrival of night, I wedged myself, skirt pulled up, among kids my sister’s age like a rat, and breathed in the inscrutable warmth seething insidiously through the night streets and the sickly-sweet air filled with dense passions.” (Yunyeonui Tteul [The Garden of My Childhood], Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 1981)
Oh Jung Hee is a writer who portrays anxiety, fear, and the abyss of the human psyche through the lens of a woman.
1. Life
Oh Jung Hee was born in Seoul in 1947. Her parents were North Korean refugees originally from Haeju, South Hwanghae Province. After her father was conscripted during the Korean War, the remaining family lived as refugees for five years in Hongseong-gun, South Chungcheong Province. Later, her memories of war became the foundation of her literary world. She moved to Incheon in Grade 2. While living there, she moved three times, and her final home was a small house near Freedom Park and Chinatown. She wrote Junggugin Geori (Chinatown) based on the surreal and eerie rumors she heard as a child about the Chinese people.
She began her literary career by winning the JoongAng Ilbo New Year’s Literary Contest for “Wangujeom Yeoin” (“The Toy Shop Woman”), written in 1968 while a student at Seorabeol University of Arts with Kim Dongni’s encouragement. After graduating, she worked at a magazine and book publishing while managing family responsibilities and continuing to write. She concluded her first literary phase with her first short story collection, Burui Gang (River of Fire), in 1977 and published Yunyeonui Tteul (The Garden of My Childhood) and Baramui Neok (Spirit on the Wind) during the 1980s. In 2003, she was awarded the LiBeraturpreis for Sae (The Bird), becoming the first Korean to receive an international award. In 2002, she converted to Catholicism, taking the baptismal name Silvia. She currently resides in Chuncheon and remains an active writer more than fifty years after her debut.
2. Writing
Death, solitude, and violence of the era permeate Oh’s literature. Her identity as the child of war refugees from North Korea, her experience of war at a young age, and her solitary endurance of the death of her youngest sibling in her second year of middle school are reflected throughout her works. As a result, she revealed in an interview that “literature is an attempt at creating meaning by standing against the suffering and injustice of life.”
Her first collection of works, Burui Gang (River of Fire), explicitly depicts existential dread, inner anxiety, and destructive desire, which she herself described it as “a harrowing self-portrait of youth.” Her second collection, Yunyeonui Tteul (The Garden of My Childhood), holds memories of her childhood, haunted by poverty and angst as she waited for her father, who was conscripted during the Korean War while they were in refuge. Meanwhile, “Jeonyeogui Geim” (“Evening Games”), one of the short stories in the collection, reveals a different dimension in her literary work, highlighting the solitude and desire of the elderly. The story draws on her experience of living with her bedridden father for a long period, and similar themes are also explored in “Jeongnyo” (“Solitude”) and “Donggyeong” (“The Bronze Mirror”). Her third collection, Baramui Neok (Spirit on the Wind), was written at the end of her thirties. Her works during this period blend her experience of war during childhood, the dark social background of that time, and the everyday lives of children. In particular, the title story “Baramui Neok” (“Spirit on the Wind”) was inspired by her son who was especially afraid of the wind, asking, “Mom, the wind is blowing. I’m scared of the wind. Where does the wind live?” Oh confessed that during the entire time she was writing this story, the memory of her younger sister’s death lay deep within her consciousness. Her ideas for her novel Sae (The Bird) came while she was working as a volunteer counselor. It depicts the pain and wandering of a young brother and sister, left defenseless in a violent environment, from the perspective of a young girl.
Reference
Complete and Selected Works
Donggyeong: Ojeonghuiui Soseol (The Bronze Mirror: Oh Jung Hee’s Fiction), Dongsuh Publishers, 1983
Yahoe (Evening Party), Nanam Publishing House, 1990
Yesumul (An Old Well), Chunga Books, 1994
Ojeonghui Keolleksyeon: Burui Gang, Yunyeonui Tteul, Baramui Neok, Bulkkonnori, Sae, jeon5gwon (Oh Jung Hee’s Collection: River of Fire, The Garden of My Childhood, Spirit on the Wind, Fireworks, The Bird, all 3 vols.), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 2017
Jeonyeogui Geim (Evening Games), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 2020
Hwallan, Sigongsa, 2022
Short Story Collections
Burui Gang (River of Fire), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 1977
Yunyeonui Tteul (The Garden of My Childhood), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 1981
Baramui Neok (Spirit on the Wind), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 1986
Bulmangbi (The Monument Intersection), Goryeowon, 1987
Sulkkunui Anae (The Drunkard’s Wife), Jakka Publishing Co., Ltd, 1993
Bulkkonnori (Fireworks), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 1995
Kkotdaballo On Sonnim (A Guest Who Came as a Bouquet), Keunsan, 1990
Dwaejikkum (A Pig Dream), Random House Korea, 2008
Gaeul Yeoja (Woman of Autumn), Random House Korea, 2009
Naega Geu Naiyeosseul Ttae Soseori Nareul Chajawatda (At That Age, Stories Found Me), Yeobaek, 2001 (multiple authors)
Novels
Sae (The Bird), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 1996
Religious Works
Huinmulgyeol Changsegi, Ojeonghuiwa Ingneun Seonggyeong (Genesis of White Waves, Reading the Bible with Oh Jung Hee), White Wave, 2007
Gajang Oraedoen Sarangui Girok, Ojeonghuiui Iyagi seongseo (A Record of the Oldest Love, Bible Stories by Oh Jung Hee), Yeobaek, 2012
Essays
Murangae Pineun Nal (The Day Sea Fog Blooms), Hainaim, 1991
Heorigupyeo Jeolhaneun Tteuseun (The Meaning of Bowing Deeply), Chang, 1994
Saraisseume Daehan Noraereul (A Song About Being Alive), Chang, 1999
Nae Maeumui Munui (The Patterns of My Heart), Golden Owl, 2006
Maeumui Punggyeong (Landscape of the Heart), Ire, 2000 (multiple authors)
Naui Munhak Iyagi (My Literary Journey), Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2001 (multiple authors)
Eomeoni Baldeunge Ibeul Matchugo (Kissing My Mother’s Foot), Jayurounsangsang, 2004 (multiple authors)
Dwineutge Manna Saranghada: Insaengeul Algo Sinangeul Seontaekan Jakga 8inui Gatollik Immun Iyagi (Love Late in Life: The Path to Catholicism of 8 Writers Who Understood Life and Chose Religion), Bible Life, 2007 (multiple authors)
Eomeoniui Norae – Noraereul Tonghae Eomeonineun Siigo Cheolhagigo Jonggyoga Doenda (Mother’s Song: Mother Becomes Poetry, Philosophy, and Religion Through Music), Sijak, 2008 (multiple authors)
Geuriumui Balgyeon (Discovery of Longing), Positive Thinking, 2010 (multiple authors)
Sarameun Sarameul Bureunda: Geurimi Inneun Esei (People Attract People: An Essay with Pictures), Daughters of St. Paul, 2013 (multiple authors)
Saranghaeyo Eomma: Sesangui Gajangjarireul Balkineun 22inui Gaseum Ttatteuthan Iyagi (I Love You Mom: The Heartwarming Stories of 22 People Who Light Up the Edge of the World), Maumsup, 2016 (multiple authors)
Saraboni Haengbogeun Ireoseumnida: Meonjeo Sarabon 30inui Haengbongnon (Happiness as I’ve Come to Know It: Views on Happiness from 30 People Later in Life), Design House, 2019 (multiple authors)
Naneun Eotteoke Geureul Sseuneunga: Asia Jakgadeurui Geulsseugiwa Sal (On How I Write: The Writing and Lives of Asian Writers), ASIA Publishers, 2020 (multi-authors)
Taengja: Geunhyeondae Sanmun Daegadeurui Gipgo Gipeun Sanmun Moeum (Trifoliate Orange: A Collection of Profound Prose by Modern and Contemporary Literary Giants), Springdaysbook, 2021 (multiple authors)
Maeumi Yeppeojineun Supil (An Essay That Cultivates Inner Beauty), Namu Book, 2003 (multiple authors)
Children’s Books
Songiya, Muneul Yeolmyeon Achimiranda (Song, It’s Morning When You Open the Door), Hanyang Publishing, 1993
Yuchiwon Gagi Sileun Nal, Mongma Tago Naragan Iyagi (The Story of Flying Away on a Wooden Horse on the Day I Didn’t Want to Go to Kindergarten), Samsung Publishing Co.,Ltd., 2000
Jeopdongsae Iyagi (The Story of a Cuckoo), Leegaseo, 2006
Madeo Teresa, Naneun Junimui Jageun Mongdangyeonpil (Mother Teresa: I Am the Lord’s Tiny Pencil Stub), Woongjin Think House, 2007
Tolseutoi, Buhwareul Iyagihan Reosiaui Daemunho (Tolstoy: A Russian Literary Great Who Spoke of Resurrection), Woongjin Think House, 2008
Namukkungwa Seonnyeo (The Woodcutter and the Fairy), BIR, 2011
Gyeonuwa Jingnyeo (The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl), Kookmin Books, 2013
Soeumgonghae (Noise Pollution), Gilbutkid, 2020
Bomulsangja (A Treasure Chest), Human & Arts Publishing, 1994 (multiple authors)
Other
Ojeonghui Munhagaelbeom (Oh Jung Hee’s Literary Album), Woongjin Publishing, 1995 (multiple authors)
Ojeonghuiui Gidam: Isangyareuthago Jaemiinneun Yesiyagi (Strange and Entertaining Old Tales by Oh Jung Hee), The Reading Island, 2018 (multiple authors)
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