“and we don't even know what the end looks like but / we stand like the end // When can you say 'The End' and make it sound the prettiest? / Maybe that's the kind of thing we're thinking: / If we all / said 'The End' / instead of 'Cheese' / the moment the photo is taken / the world would be a bit brighter/ Is this the thought we had?” (<끝>, 《책기둥》, 민음사, 2017) / “Kkeut” (End), Pillar of Books, Black Ocean, 2021
Moon Bo Young is a writer who explores the possibility of a gentle, compassionate life through poetry and prose grounded in a uniquely imaginative sensibility.
1. Life
Moon Bo Young was born on Jeju Island in 1992. She graduated from Korea University with a degree in education. She began writing poetry after taking a creative writing course in college and made her literary debut in 2016 by winning the JoongAng Ilbo Joongang New Writer’s Award. In 2017, she received the 36th KimSu-Young Literary Award for her poetry collection Pillar of Books. She is also engaged in creative activities as varied and original as her poetry. She runs a project called “Diary Delivery,” in which she mails handwritten diary entries by post to selected readers. She also publishes a solo literary magazine titled “Five Thousand Moon Bo Young,” runs “Calling Poem,” a service where she reads new poems over the phone, and shares glimpses of her daily life on her YouTube channel, “A Poet's Vlog.”
2. Writing
Moon Bo Young began her literary career as a poet but has since expanded into multiple genres of writing, including fiction and essays. Her first poetry collection, Chaekgidung (책기둥 Pillar of Books), stands out for its bold narrative approach that breaks away from conventional poetic form, along with its quirky sentences and distinctive language. By rendering everyday scenes in unfamiliar and refreshing ways, her work focuses on the feeling of being alive rather than the tedium of daily life. Her second collection Baeteulgeuraundeu (배틀그라운드 Battleground) brings together 24 poems of the same title, all set on an island within an online battle game. Though drawn from a game’s setting, she reinterprets it through her imagination, creating new meanings that resonate with reality. In her third collection Moraebiga naerineun morae seojeom (모래비가 내리는 모래 서점 Sand Bookstore Where Sand Rain Falls), Moon constructs a world governed by a logic different from that of ordinary reality, filled with surprising and charming turns. Through her singular imagination, she presents the possibility of a kinder life, different from the present, in which all beings in the world are interconnected.
Beyond poetry, Moon has been actively engaged in essay writing. She has described the diary as “not a form of writing that records facts, but the freest form of writing, unconstrained by genre.” Based on this idea, she has published essay collections such as Sarameul miwohaneungajang dajeonghan bangsik (사람을 미워하는 가장 다정한 방식), a compilation of her diary entries from her twenties onward, and Ilgi sidae (일기시대 Diary Era), which presents her theory of diary writing.
Reference
Poetry
《책기둥》, 민음사, 2017 / Pillar of Books, Black Ocean, 2021
《배틀그라운드》, 현대문학, 2019 / Baeteulgeuraundeu (Battleground), Hyundae Munhak, 2019
《모래비가 내리는 모래 서점》, 문학동네,2023 / Moraebiga naerineun morae seojeom (Sand Bookstore Where Sand Rain Falls), Munhakdongne, 2023
(co-authored) 《좋아하는 것을 함부로 말하고 싶을 때》, 은행나무,2018 / Joahaneun geoseul hamburo malhago sipeul ttae (When I Want to Talk Carelessly About What I Love), Eunhaengnamu, 2018
(co-authored) 《어느 푸른 저녁》, 문학과지성사, 2019 / Eoneu pureun jeonyeok (One Blue Evening), Munhakgwa Jiseongsa, 2019
(co-authored) 《첫사랑과 O》, 알마, 2019 / Cheotsaranggwa O (First Love and O), Alma, 2019
(co-authored) 《시 보다 2023》, 문학과지성사, 2023 / Si boda 2023 (Seeing Poetry 2023), Moonji, 2023
(co-authored) 《시소 두 번째》, 자음과모음, 2024 / Siso du beonjjae (Siso(Poetry and Fiction), Volume Two), Jaeum & Moeum, 2024
Fiction
《하품의 언덕》, 알마,2021 / Hapumui eondeok (The Hill of Yawns), Alma, 2021
(co-authored) 《초월하는 세계의 사랑》, 허블, 2022 / Chowolhaneun segyeui sarang (Love in a Transcending World), Hubble, 2022
Essays
《사람을 미워하는 가장 다정한 방식》, 쌤앤파커스, 2019 / Sarameul miwohaneun gajang dajeonghanbangsik (The Most Affectionate Way to Hate People), Sam & Parkers, 2019
《준최선의 롱런》, 비사이드,2019 / Junchoeseonui longreon(The Long Run of Almost-Best), Beside, 2019
《불안해서 오늘도 버렸습니다》, 웨일북, 2020 / Buranhaeseo oneuldo beoryeosseumnida (Anxious Again Today, So I Let It Go), Whalebooks, 2020
《일기시대》, 민음사, 2021 / Ilgi sidae (Diary Era), Minumsa, 2021
《삶의 반대편에 들판이 있다면》, 한겨레출판, 2024 / Salmuibandaepyeone deulpani itdamyeon (If There Is a Field on the Other Side of Life), Hanibook, 2024
(co-authored) 《내가 너의 첫 문장이었을 때》, 웅진지식하우스,2020 / Naega neoui cheot munjangieosseul ttae (When I Was Your First Sentence), Woongjin Knowledge House, 2020
(co-authored) 《여기서 끝나야 시작되는 여행인지 몰라》, 알마, 2020 / Yeogiseo kkeunnaya sijakdoeneun yeohaenginji molla (Perhaps It’s a Journey That Only Begins When It Ends Here), Alma, 2020
(co-authored) 《언니에게 보내는 행운의 편지》, 창비,2021 / Eonniege bonaeneun haenguneui pyeonji (A Lucky Letter to My Older Sister), Changbi, 2021
(co-authored) 《마음과 엄마는 초록이었다》, 난다, 2022 / Maeumgwa eommaneun chorogieotda (The Heart and Mother Were Green), Nanda, 2022
(co-authored) 《토끼는 언제나 마음속에 있어》, 마음산책,2022 / Tokkineun eonjena maeumsoge isseo (The Rabbit Is Always in My Heart), Maumsanchaek, 2022
(co-authored) 《나의 문학》, 민음사, 2023 / Naui munhak (My Literature), Minumsa, 2023
(co-authored) 《나의 친구》, 민음사,2023 / Naui chingu (My Friend), Minumsa, 2023
(co-authored) 《어떤 마음은 딱딱하고 어떤 마음은 물러서》, 아침달, 2023 / Eotteon maeumeun ttakttakhago eotteon maeumeun mulleoseo (Because Some Hearts Are Hard and Some Hearts Are Soft), Achimdal, 2023
(co-authored) 《낯설거나 새로운》, 북다, 2024 / Natseolgeona saeroun (Strange or New), Vookda, 2024
Other publications
《언유주얼 an usual Magazine Vol.1》, 언유주얼,2019 / Eonyujueol (An Usual Magazine) Vol. 1, An Usual, 2019
《언유주얼 an usual Magazine Vol.8》, 언유주얼,2020 / Eonyujueol (An Usual Magazine) Vol. 8, An Usual, 2020
《페이지스 6집》, 77page, 2021 / Peijiiseu 6 (Pages, Issue 6), 77page, 2021
《매거진 G 2호》, 김영사,2022 / Maegeojin G 2 (Magazine G, Issue 2), Gimmyoungsa, 2021
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