Kim Un made his literary debut after winning the Siwa Sasang’s New Writer’s Award in 1998. He has published a number of poetry collections, including Breathing Grave, Let’s Write Fiction, Everyone is Moving, One Sentence, Sometimes I Think I Know You But Then I Realize I Don’t, and Dear Blank Page. He also won the Daesan Literary Award in 2021.
1. Life
Kim Un was born Kim Yeong-sik in 1973. His pen name “Un” comes from the Chinese character 言, meaning “language” or “word.” Kim interprets this as “sentence,” and believes that a single world can be contained within a sentence. He made his literary debut in 1998, winning the Siwa Sasang New Writers Award for “Haebaragi” (“Sunflower”) and six other poems. Since then, he has published a number of poetry collections and won many literary awards.
2. Writing
Kim states, “It is written not through the power of greatness but through the power of vulnerability. One must break past the bottom into what lies beneath, marked by lack and scars, to confront the self, which is nothing more than a humble beast.” Through poetry, he seeks to depict real lives distorted by contradiction, horror, pain, and sorrow, and to move beyond reality.
While in his first poetry collection Geoin (Giant), Kim explores life and reality through fantasy, giving it form in poetry, in Han Munjang (A Sentence), he emphasizes the importance of looking beyond reality and persisting in the face of failure. He particularly continues to transcend the systems of meaning in reality and to nullify the established systems of meaning. Through this, he seeks new possibilities of language, breaking away from the conventional constraints and a world of repetition. In Neoui Aldagado Moreul Maeum (Your Elusive Heart), he shows a different approach to form and theme compared to his earlier works. Within this collection, he subverts meaning and expands the boundaries of reality through language, creating poems with narratives like short stories, rather than those written in the traditional way. Meanwhile, in his seventh collection Baekjiege (To a Blank Page), he returns to his long held reflections on going beyond boundaries and experimental language.
Reference
Poetry Collections and Selected Works
Sumswineun Mudeom (The Breathing Tomb). Poemsijak, 2003
Geoin (Giant). Random House JoongAng, 2005
Soseoreul Sseuja (Let’s Write a Novel). MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2009
Moduga Umjiginda (Everyone Is Moving). Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 2013
Han Siganssik Georiga Jopyeojinda (The Distance Narrows Hour by Hour). Kirinsoop, 2014
Han Munjang (A Sentence). Moonji Publishing co., Ltd., 2018
Neoui Aldagado Moreul Maeum (Your Elusive Heart). Munhakdongne Publishing Corp., 2018
Baekjiege (To a Blank Page). MINUMSA Publishing Group, 2021
Midangmunhaksang Susangjakpumjip (Midang Literary Award Anthology). JoongangBooks, 2009 (multiple authors)
Gigoehan Seokeoseu (A Bizarre Circus). Samunnanjeok, 2010 (multiple authors)
Shakespeare Hairstyle. Homil Books, 2016 (multiple authors)
Pulbate Beoryeojin Gamjacheoreom (Like a Potato Abandoned on the Field). Jeonmang, 2020 (multiple authors)
Poetry Criticism and Theory, and Essays
Changjagui Bimil (The Secret to Creative Writing). Ugongisan, 2015
Nuguna Gaseume Munjangi Itda (Everyone Carries a Sentence in the Heart). Seorabuinalssi, 2017
Sineun Eotteoke Oneunga (How Does a Poem Come to Be). Siindongne, 2018
Sineun Ibyeore Daehaeseo Malhaji Anneunda (Poetry Does Not Speak of Separation). Nanda, 2019
Oraedoen Chaek Ilgi (Reading Old Books). Achimdal, 2023
Pongnyeokgwa Maeryeogui Geulsseugireul Neomeo (Beyond the Violence and Charm of Writing). Paran, 2023
Eojjeoda Dangsini Joaseo (Because I Somehow Like You). Gom, 2013 (multiple authors)
Siineuro Sandaneun Geot (To Live as a Poet). Literature & Thought, 2014 (multiple authors)
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