“Well, you certainly know how to have a good time. Why don’t you just keep it in the womb forever?” (Jeolbanui silpae (절반의 실패 Half a Failure), Geodneunsaram, 2020)

Yi Kyoung-Ja is a writer devoted to examining women’s lives and the structural inequalities of Korean society with a keen social awareness.

1. Life

Yi Kyoung-Ja was born in Yangyang, Gangwon Province. She graduated from Seorabeol University of Arts with a degree in creative writing and made her literary debut in 1973 when her short story “Hwagin” (확인 Confirmation) won the Seoul Shinmun New Writer’s Contest. In 1988, she attracted widespread attention with Jeolbanui silpae, a short story collection that examined the issues of patriarchy from a female perspective. The book earned her Woman of the Year Award. The following year, the collection was adapted into a television miniseries by KBS. Yi continued to establish herself as one of Korea’s leading feminist writers with works including Oneuldo naneun ihoneul kkumkkunda and the novel Baebanui seong (배반의 성 The Castle of Betrayal).

In 2008, Yi became the first woman to head the Writers Association of Korea. In 2009, she received the 8th Violet Grassroots Fiction Award for her novel Ppallaeteo (빨래터 The Washing Place) about the life and artistic world of painter Park Su-geun. Her 2013 novel Se beonjjae jip earned the unusual distinction of receiving both the Hyundae Buddhist Literature Prize and the Korea Catholic Literature Award. She also served as a professor of creative writing at Seorabeol University of Arts and the president of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Yi has a strong attachment to her hometown of Yangyang. The novels Saranggwa sangcheo and Jeongeun neukjido ana (정(情)은 늙지도 않아 Affection Never Grows Old) are set in Gangwon Province, and she vividly employs the local dialect throughout, while the young adult novel Suni, which is also set in Yangyang in the aftermath of the Korean War, is an autobiographical story that draws heavily upon her own childhood experiences. In 2024, she released an essay collection titled Yangyang-eneun honja gagil gwonhamnida (양양에는 혼자 가길 권합니다 I Recommend Going to Yangyang Alone). She has often remarked that the unique history of Yangyang as a “recovered” territory that had originally belonged to North Korea played a decisive role in shaping her as a novelist. Of all the honors she has received, she has said she was most pleased to receive the Pride of Yangyang Award.

2. Writing

Yi Kyoung-Ja is regarded as a pioneer of feminist fiction in Korea. While women’s issues are at the center of her work, her fiction more broadly encompasses the lives of those marginalized and discriminated against within Korean society. Her representative short story collection Jeolbanui silpae (절반의 실패 Half a Failure) examines from various perspectives the hardships suffered by women of different generations and social backgrounds, such as conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, domestic violence, marital infidelity, and women’s sexual alienation. The collection resonated deeply with readers for explicitly confronting the realities of patriarchy and gender inequalities that had rarely entered public discussion before, though some also criticized it for being too extreme. Her collection Oneuldo naneun ihoneul kkumkkunda (오늘도 나는 이혼을 꿈꾼다 Today, As Always, I Dream of Divorce) brings together fifty-four works of flash fiction, offering brief yet powerful explorations of the history of women’s oppression. It was withdrawn from circulation shortly after its release following protests from readers, but it was republished in 2020. More than thirty years since it first appeared, it continues to be recognized for the enduring relevance of the questions it raises.

In the novel Saranggwa sangcheo (사랑과 상처 Love and Hurt), Yi explores Korea’s old customs and the roots of the idea that men are superior to women through the difficult life of Jeong-ok. Born in the 1930s as an unwanted daughter, Jeong-ok is subjected to domestic violence by her husband and forced to watch her own daughters lead similarly unhappy lives. The writer Park Wansuh remarked that she felt a “startling freshness, as though watching a complete artistic transformation from everything she had written before.”

Yi has also devoted considerable attention to the division of the Korean Peninsula. Her first work of young adult fiction Suni (순이 Suni) is a coming-of-age story of a girl in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, a region that was incorporated into South Korea in the aftermath of the Korean War and consequently experienced political confusion and ideological conflict. The novel Se beonjjae jip (세 번째 집 The Third House) centers on Seong-ok, a North Korean defector, and explores the issues of wartime forced labor, the Korean community in Japan, and the repatriation of ethnic Koreans to North Korea.

Reference

Short story collections

《할미소에서 생긴 일》, 인문당, 1984 / Halmisoeseo saenggin il (Incident at Halmiso), Inmundang, 1984
《절반의 실패》, 동광출판사, 1988 / Jeolbanui silpae (Half a Failure), Donggwang Chulpansa, 1988
《꼽추네 사랑》, 동광출판사, 1990 / Kkobchune sarang (Hunchback's Love), Donggwang Chulpansa, 1990
《오늘도 나는 이혼을 꿈꾼다》, 작가정신, 1992 / Oneuldo naneun ihoneul kkumkkunda (Today, As Always, I Dream of Divorce), Jakka Jeongsin, 1992
《살아남기》, 작가정신, 1993 / Saranamgi (Survival), Jakka Jeongsin, 1993
《생애보다 긴 밤》, 문이당, 2006 / Saengaeboda gin bam (A Night Longer Than a Lifetime), Munidang, 2006
《건너편 섬》, 자음과모음, 2014 / Geonneopyeon seom (The Island Across the Way), Jaeum & Moeum, 2014

(co-authored) 《금덩이 이야기 : 북한 인권을 말하는 남북한 작가의 공동 소설집》, 예옥, 2017 / Geumdeongi iyagi: Bukhan ingwoneul malhaneun Nambukhan jakkaui gongdong soseoljip (Gold Nugget Stories: A Joint Fiction Anthology by South and North Korean Writers Speaking on North Korean Human Rights), Yeok, 2017

Novels

《배반의 城》(일월서각, 1982) / Baebanui Seong (The Castle of Treachery), Irwolseogak, 1982

《머나먼 사랑》, 풀빛, 1990 / Meonameon sarang (A Faraway Love), Pulbit, 1990
《혼자 눈뜨는 아침》(전2권), 푸른숲, 1993 / Honja nuntteuneun achim (Waking Up Alone in the Morning, 2 vols.), Prunsoop, 1993
《황홀한 반란》, 푸른숲, 1996 / Hwangholhan ballan (An Ecstatic Rebellion), Prunsoop, 1996
《사랑과 상처》(전2권), 실천문학사, 1998 / Saranggwa sangcheo (Love and Hurt, 2 vols.), Silcheon Munhaksa, 1998
《정(情)은 늙지도 않아》, 문이당, 1999 / Jeongeun neukjido ana (Affection Never Grows Old), Munidang, 1999
《그 매듭은 누가 풀까》, 실천문학사, 2003 / Geu maedeubeun nuga pulkka (Who Will Untie the Knot), Silcheon Munhaksa, 2003
《계화》, 생각의 나무, 2005 / Gyehwa (Cassia Flower), Saenggagui Namu, 2005
《천 개의 아침》, 이룸, 2007 / Cheon gaeui achim (A Thousand Mornings), Irum, 2007
《귀비의 남자》, 중앙북스, 2008 / Gwibiui namja (The Consort's Man), Joongang Books, 2008
《빨래터》, 문이당, 2009 / Ppallaeteo (The Washing Place), Munidang, 2009
《세 번째 집》, 문학동네, 2013 / Se beonjjae jip (The Third House), Munhakdongne, 2013

Essays

《반쪽 어깨에 내리는 비》, 푸른숲, 1989 / Banjok eokkae-e naerineun bi (Rain Falling on Half a Shoulder), Prunsoop, 1989
《오늘도 어제가 부끄럽다》, 현대문화센타, 1990 / Oneuldo eojega bukkeureopda (Today Again I Am Ashamed of Yesterday), Hyeondae Munhwa Center, 1990
《절망도 추억이 된다》, 작가정신, 1994 / Jeolmangdo chueogi doenda (Even Despair Becomes a Memory), Jakka Jeongsin, 1994
《뻔뻔한 여자의 당당한 자유》, 고려원, 1994 / Ppeonppeonhan yeojaui dangdanghan jayu (The Brazen Woman's Bold Freedom), Koreaone, 1994
《이경자, 모계 사회를 찾다》, 이룸, 2001 / Yi Kyoung-Ja, mogye sahoereul chatda (Yi Kyoung-Ja Seeks a Matriarchal Society), Irum, 2001
《남자를 묻는다》, 랜덤하우스 중앙, 2004 / Namjareul munneunda (Questioning Men), Random House Joongang, 2004
《딸아, 너는 절반의 실패도 하지 마라》, 향연, 2007 / Ttara, neoneun jeolbanui silpaedo haji mara (Daughter, Do Not Even Half Fail), Hyangyeon, 2007
《양양에는 혼자 가길 권합니다》, 난다, 2024 / Yangyang-eneun honja gagil gwonhamnida (I Recommend Going to Yangyang Alone), Nanda, 2024

Children’s books

《궁금한 게 참 많은 세상》, 한양출판, 1997 / Gunggeumhan ge cham manneun sesang (A World Full of So Many Curiosities), Hanyang Chulpan, 1997
《꼽추네 사랑》, 문이당, 2007 / Kkobchune sarang (Hunchback's Love), Munidang, 2007
《순이》, 사계절, 2010 / Suni (Suni), Sakyejul, 2010

Miscellaneous

《시인 신경림》, 책만드는집, 2017 / Siin Shin Kyeong-nim (The Poet Shin Kyeong-nim), Chaekmandeuneunjip, 2017