“I see you left all alone in this world / I cannot ask you not to forget for long / I see your face for the last time / I see our faces for the last time” (“Urideurui Majimak Eolgul” [“Our Last Faces”], Urideurui Majimak Eolgul [Our Last Faces], Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2015)
Moon Taejun is a poet who writes lyric poetry in pastoral and restrained language.
1. Life
Moon Taejun was born in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province in 1970. He grew up in a mountain village near Mount Hwanghak and was raised in a Buddhist environment, regularly visiting a temple from childhood. He had always wanted to become a journalist, but when he entered college, he came across Shin Kyeong-nim’s poetry and realized that the raw experiences of nature and his rural upbringing could become his poetic strength. He debuted in 1994, receiving Munye Joongang New Writers Award for “The Cusp of Autumn” and nine other poems. In 1996, he became a member of the poetry circle Sihim and also began working as a producer for a Buddhist program. The Buddhist influence of his new job is reflected in the changes in his poetry. He moved to Jeju Island in 2020 and is currently the executive director of the Jeju branch of the Buddhist Broadcasting System. He is also active as a poet and farmer.
2. Writing
Moon is regarded as a poet who continues the tradition of Korean lyric poetry. He writes in refined language, with emphasis on formal structure. In his earlier poems, he explores the rustic scenery of farming villages, daily lives of rural people, and spiritual themes such as shamanism and reincarnation. He also shows an interest in the working conditions of farmers. Sureongeorineun Dwiran (Crowded Backyard) not only addresses pastoral subjects and spaces but is also considered a collection that modernizes the sentiment of one’s hometown through native poetic diction. The quiet lyricism in his poems included in Gajaemi (Flatfish) pursues “radical minimalism,” which even empties out the aesthetic authority of lyric poetry. Furthermore, the poems have been regarded as transforming the hierarchy of traditional lyric poetry into a horizontal aesthetic. This is clearly embodied in one of his major poems, “Gajaemi” (“Flatfish”).
Meanwhile, Moon gradually shifted his poetic focus from the farming world to relationships as the Buddhist influence evident in his earlier poems deepened. In his work, relationships are not limited to human connections but extend to nature, also encompassing the themes of illness and parting. While many poems in Urideurui Majimak Eolgul (Our Last Faces) confront the ideas of aging and death and reflect on their meaning, the poems in Achimeun Saenggakanda (The Morning Thinks) portray a world of solidarity where people become one with nature.
Reference
Poetry Collections and Selected Poems
Sureongeorineun Dwiran (Crowded Backyard), Changjakgwa Bipyeongsa, 2000
Maenbal (Barefoot), Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2004
Gajaemi (Flatfish), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 2006
Geuneurui Baldal (The Growth of a Shadow), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 2008
Meon Got (Faraway Place), Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2012
Urideurui Majimak Eolgul (Our Last Faces), Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2015
Naega Samohaneun Ire Museun Kkeuchi Innayo (How Can There Be an End to My Devotion?), Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2018
Achimeun Saenggakanda (The Morning Thinks), Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2022
Jamdeulji Mothaneun Sup (The Forst That Cannot Sleep), Goyoachim, 2013 (multiple authors)
Siin Park Yong-rae (Park Yong-rae, The Poet), Somyong Publishing, 2015 (multiple authors)
Neoui Areumdaumi Ontong Geuri Doelkkabwa (Should Your Beauty Turn Entirely into Words), Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2017 (multiple authors)
Kkochi Ogo Sarami Onda (The Flower Comes, Then the Person), Moak, 2022 (multiple authors)
Sesangeseo Gajang Areumdapgo Muyonghan Hyeongmyeong (The Most Beautiful and Futile Revolution in the World), Dalasil, 2023 (multiple authors)
Essays
Neurimbo Maeum (Slowpoke’s Heart), Maumsup, 2009
Barami Bulmyeon Barami Buneun Namuga Doejiyo (If the Wind Blows, I’ll Be a Swaying Tree), Maumsup, 2019
Naneun Cheot Munjangeul Gidaryeotda (I Have Waited for My First Sentence), Maumsup, 2022
Gwaenchana, Nega Isseunikka (It’s Okay, I Have You), Maumsup, 2009 (multiple authors)
Seongnan Eolgullo Dorabora (Look Back in Anger), Medicimedia, 2014 (multiple authors)
Saranghaeyo Eomma (I Love You Mom), Maumsup, 2016 (multiple authors)
Hanguk Jakgaga Ilgeun Segyemunhak (World Literature as Read by Korean Writers), Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2018 (multiple authors)
Haenam Ttang Kkeute Gago Sipda (I Wish to Visit Ttangkkeut in Haenam), Ilsang & Isang, 2022 (multiple authors)
Scholarly Works
Yukwaehan Sihak Gangui (A Joyful Lecture on Poetics), AIN Books, 2015 (multiple authors)
Reference
Kim In-hwan, “Siryeongwa Meon Got” (“Faraway Place from Hardship”). Meon Got (Faraway Place), Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2012
Pak Hyeongjun, “Neulgeun Punggyeonge Daehan Gwanneung, Hogeun Syameonijeumui Segye” (Sensuality of Aged Landscapes or the Shamanic Realm”). Sureongeorineun Dwiran (Crowded Backyard), Changjakgwa Bipyeongsa, 2000
Lee Gyeong-su, “Baljagugeul Ttara Yeongyeoldoen Segyero” (“Following Footsteps to a Connected World”). Achimeun Saenggakanda (The Morning Thinks), Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2022
Lee Gwang-ho, “Geukbinui Mihak, Supyeongui Him” (“The Aesthetics of Radical Minimalism, the Power of the Horizontal”). Gajaemi (Flatfish), Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 2006
Choi Hyeon-sik, “’Yeosi’ Raneun Mal” (“The Word ‘thus’”). Urideurui Majimak Eolgul (Our Last Faces), Changbi Publishers, Inc., 2015
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