Recipient of the 2025 Arts Council Korea Literature Fellowship
"If I write something hard, it might help someone going through a hard time. If I write something painful, it might ease someone's pain a little."—Ppangya, in Ppangya (Alma Books, 2023)
1. Life
Kim Eun-seong was born in 1977 in Boseong, Jeonnam, and grew up in the outskirts of Seoul from the age of 10 onwards. It was an impoverished neighborhood that gave him firsthand access to his likewise impoverished neighbors. His love of reading and writing goes back to boyhood, as does his interest in Korean history that encouraged him to write a historical drama inspired by Silla hyangga that was published in his middle school paper. Kim made his literary debut in 2006 winning the playwriting category of the Hankook Ilbo New Writer’s Contest for his play, Sidong Tailor Shop, and continues to publish plays actively. Since the 2010s he has taught playwriting at various universities and theater academies. He writes plays splitting his time between the classroom and his office.
2. Writing
Kim Eun-seong is a playwright notable for his contributions to Korean realist theatre. Since his debut in 2006, Kim has explored the deep-lying sadness of Korean society such as the trauma of loss and survivor guilt through the stories of marginalized people and incidents from early modern Korean history. The author's consistent preoccupation with the dark underbelly of Korean society is evident in his work from Sidong Tailor Shop, a hyperrealist depiction of a failing tailor shop in the countryside that has fallen on hard times with the rise of readywear, to Yanbian Mom, a hard-hitting look at the reality of Korean Chinese migrant workers;Mokran Unnie, the downfall of a North Korean accordion player who succumbs to the South Korean capitalist society; and Vanilla, about a disabled teen and a rescue dog's tragic encounter.
Directly addressing the trauma of war and genocide in epic narratives, Kim's Sunshine Warriors, Ppangya, and Around and Around and Aroundwere lauded by both the public and critics as up-to-date dramatizations of historical events. The playwright has also enjoyed success for his Korean reinterpretations of classic plays, adapting Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerieas Soap Opera on the Moon, Chekhov's The Seagulland Uncle Vanyaas Mudand Uncle Sunwu, and Shakespeare's Hamletas Hamik, contributing to the diversity of Korean theatre. While tirelessly engaged in conveying the reality of Korean society in his work, the author is equally invested in creating stories that appeal to contemporary audiences. The playwright strives constantly to render difficult, inconvenient messages accessible and entertaining in his work.
Reference
Notable Performances
Uncle Sunwu 순우삼촌/ Sejong M Theater / 2010
Yanbian Mom 연변엄마/ Daehakro Arts Theater Grand Theater / 2011
Mokran Unnie 목란언니/ Doosan Art Center Space 111 / 2012, 2013, 2017
Sunshine Warriors 썬샤인의 전사들/ Doosan Art Center Space 111 / 2016
Hamik 함익/ Sejong M Theater / 2016, 2019
That Dog 그 개/ Sejong M Theater / 2018
Ppangya 빵야/ LG Arts Center / 2023
Plays
Sidong Tailor Shop 시동라사/ Jian 지안 출판사/ 2011
Mokran Unnie 목란언니/ Theatre & Man Press 연극과 인간/ 2012
Sunshine Warriors 썬샤인의 전사들/ eum books 이음/ 2016
Yanbian Mom 연변엄마/ Geodneunsaram 걷는 사람/ 2018
Vanilla 바닐라/ Baekjo백조 출판사/ 2021
Ppangya 빵야/ Alma Books 알마 출판사/ 2023
Profile information provided by the Arts Council Korea (ARKO)
LTI Korea 
DLKL 
SIWF 