Kim Jang-hwan was born in Seoul in 1962. He studied philosophy at the University of Oregon, US. After graduation, he returned to Korea and ran a small publishing house focusing on, among other things, fantastic and imaginative works by foreign authors including Jerzy Kosinski, Kurt Vonnegut, and Neal Stephenson. He also translated The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and introduced it to Korean readers. Since childhood, he had been drawn to the unlimited imagination of fantasy novels, science fiction in particular, and creating his own story was his long-cherished desire. That dream, however, had to wait until later because making a living was a priority for him. While teaching English at a private institution, he never let go of his literary aspiration. After he immigrated to New Zealand with his family, he finally decided to write a story, using the deep and vast “boredom” of the country’s environment as an opportunity to give his imagination full play. His long-cherished desire came true when Goodbye, Yonder won the 4th Korea New Wave Literature Award. The judges praised that by combining the sci-fi elements of future time and space with mythological plots, the novel created the most advanced high-tech world that can be imaginable while still making it full of humanity. Since its first release, Goodbye, Yonder has been steadily loved as an SF classic, and in 2022, it was made into the TV series Yonder by film director Lee Jun-ik. Having successfully created his own story at last, the author strolls along the “boring” beach of New Zealand every day these days, waiting for a new story to knock on his mind’s door.
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