Recipient of the 2025 Arts Council Korea Literature Fellowship
"I was someone who could flay iron." —Excerpt from I’m a Blowfish(Munhak Dongne, 2024)
Moon Kyung-in writes as he lives.
1. Life
Moon Kyung-min was born in 1976. He studied education and became an elementary school teacher in 2002. His interest in social issues was sparked while studying Korean modern history at university. For ten years after becoming a teacher, he was active in the educational civic movement, working on educational policy and class preparation. He turned to writing while dealing with his daughter's autism, making his literary debut in 2016 at the age of forty publishing his first short story. Now his days are divided between teaching elementary school in the day and writing fiction at night. Moon explains himself as being made up of three different identities, saying, "I am a novelist, an elementary school teacher, and the father of a family member who lives with a disability."
2. Writing
Moon Kyung-min's writing is concerned with weighty issues such as disability, adoption, labor, and unearned property income. The author's interest in structural inequality is evident even in his works targeted at children and young adults. The theme remains a constant throughout all his works. Moon's writing is easy to read, thanks to three-dimensional plotting of dynamic events. His work recognizes the importance of narrative itself, with an emphasis on characters keeping their integrity instead of being swept up by plot points. According to Moon, this kind of integrity comes from the character's individual history and emotions. Towards this end, Moon's descriptions of the emotional state of his characters are nothing short of meticulous.Growth, conquering obstacles, transcendence, and solidarity are the narratives forming the core of Moon's fiction, as his writing is an answer to where the character's salvation might lie. He has mostly written contemporary fiction based in reality, but he has also experimented with fantastical elements. Just as much as the novel itself, Moon shares, he places much thought into the author's note at the end. For him, the author's note is an essay in itself. It is a space for him to write about his inspirations for that particular novel and his position behind it. Moon's author's notes read like confessions. He describes himself as someone who writes as he lives.
Reference
A World to Protect 지켜야 할 세계 (Dasan Books 다산책방)
White Town 화이트타운(EunHaeng NaMu Publishing Co., Ltd. 은행나무)
Answer 앤서(Gimm-Young Publishers, Inc. 김영사)
Shake It Off 훌훌(Munhakdongne Publishing Corp. 문학동네)
I'm a Blowfish 나는 복어(Munhakdongne Publishing Corp. 문학동네)
Bridge 브릿지(Woori School 우리학교)
The Strawberry Milk Promise 딸기우유공약(gimmyoungjr 주니어김영사)
Why We’re Trying to Protect the Dog 우리들이 개를 지키려는 이유 (Balgeunmirae Publishing Co. 밝은미래)
Can I Ever Forgive Him? 용서할 수 있을까(gimmyoungjr 주니어김영사)
I Was Always Talking 나는 언제나 말하고 있었어(Gaeam Namu 개암나무)
Uturi Ha Narin series (9 volumes) 우투리 하나린 시리즈(전9권) (Balgeunmirae Publishing Co. 밝은미래)
Us 13-Year-Olds 열세 살 우리는(Woori School 우리학교)
Killer Question Killer Killer 킬러 문항 킬러 킬러(공저) (Co-author, Hanibook 한겨레출판)
Profile information provided by the Arts Council Korea (ARKO)
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