“Some days, every page I’ve read is smeared with poison / and a colorful poisonous mushroom grows between my head.” (“Oegyerobuteoui dapsin” ( A Reply from the Outer Space), Danji jogeum isanghan ( A Little Bit Strange), Moonji, 2013)
Kang Sungeun is a poet known for her surreal imagination and fantastic world she creates.
1. Life
Kang Sungeun was born in 1973 in Uiseong, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Due to fragile health in her childhood, she suffered from sleepwalking until she was in elementary school and grew up under the close care of her mother. She studied creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts, where she initially focused on fiction but shifted to poetry after graduation. She made her literary debut in 2005 when six of her poems including “12 wol” (12 December) won the Munhakdongne New Writer’s Award. Her literary activities have taken many forms. She has been part of the literary club “Instant” since 2004, and from 2015 to 2017, she co-hosted a podcast and held reading and discussion sessions with fellow poets. In addition, she also pursued an open literary practice that blurred the lines between literature and non-literature, and between established writers and non-established writers through the independent journal Deo meolli ( Farther). Her literary achievements were recognized with the 26th Daesan Literary Award in 2018.
2. Writing
Kang’s poetry is marked by surreal imagination and fantastical time and space. Her work borrows from fairytales and children’s songs, actively describes the world of dreams, and frequently invokes the motifs of night and sleep. In particular, she often returns to titles like “Hwansangeui bit” ( The Light of Fantasy) and “Ghost” to build a distinctive poetic universe of her own.
In her first collection Gudureul singo jami deureotda ( I Fell Asleep with My Shoes On), published in 2009, she presents nightmarish fairytales and fantasies in refined rhythms and precisely crafted language. The poem “Seherajade” ( Scheherazade) included in this volume, uses fairytale imagination and symbols to render a strange, dark story with haunting beauty. Her third collection, Lo-fi, published in 2018, expands her surreal sensibility even further, dismantling the real world and creating a unique space-time. The title, an audio term meaning “low fidelity,” hints at her intention to guide readers into a deep, quiet, and indeterminate realm. This world is depicted as a place before birth or after death, or a borderland where reality and dreams blur.
Although Kang’s poetry is sometimes seen as difficult or uninviting, it enjoys strong support from both readers and critics alike. Her work is praised for transforming the violence and absurdity of reality into nightmares and fantasies, creating a world of “lyrical absurdity.” Rather than confronting real-world problems directly, Kang indirectly approaches them through imaginative expression. Her poetic world continues to evolve, and she hold a singular place in contemporary Korean poetry. How her ever-changing poetic world will develop next remains a point of interest.
Reference
Poetry collections & anthologies
Gudureul singo jami deureotda (I Fell Asleep with My Shoes On), Changbi, 2009
Danji jogeum isanghan (A Little Bit Strange), Moonji, 2013
Byeolil eopseumnida ittageum nuni naerigoyo (Nothing Much, it's Snowing Sometimes), Hyundae Munhak, 2018
Lo-fi, Moonji, 2018
(co-authored) (2006) Jeormeun si ((2006) Youthful Poetry), Munhaknamoo, 2006
(co-authored) (Hyeonjangbipyeonggaga ppobeun 2007) Olhaeui joeunsi (Good Poetry of the Year 2007 (Selected by Field Critics)), Hyundae Munhak, 2007
(co-authored) (Hyeonjangbipyeonggaga ppobeun 2008) Olhaeui joeunsi (Good Poetry of the Year 2008 (Selected by Field Critics)), Hyundae Munhak, 2008
(co-authored) (Hyeonjangbipyeonggaga ppobeun 2010) Olhaeui joeunsi (Good Poetry of the Year 2010 (Selected by Field Critics)), Hyundae Munhak, 2010
(co-authored) Uijareul singo dallineun (Running with Chairs for Shoes), Changbi Edu, 2015
(co-authored) Yuriui jonjae: je16hoe Midang Munhaksang susangjakpumjip (The Existence of Glass: Anthology of the 16th Midang Literary Award-Winning Poems), Munye Joongang: The JoongAng Plus, 2016
(co-authored) Saranghaedo honnaji anneun kkumieotda (It Was a Dream Where I Wasn’t Scolded for Loving), Siyoil: Media Changbi, 2018.
(co-authored) Eoneu pureun jeonyeok: jeolmeun siin 88 teuributeu sijip (One Green Evening: An Anthology of Tribute Poems from 88 Young Poets), Moonji, 2019
(co-authored) Gyoyang inneun saram: je65hoe Hyundae Munhaksang susangsijip (A Cultured Person: Anthology of the 65th Hyundae Literature Award-Winning Poems), Hyundae Munhak, 2019
(co-authored) (2020 “Jakga”ga seonjeonghan) Oneureui si (2020 Today’s Poetry (Selected by Jakga)), Jakga, 2020
Fiction
Naeui jamgwaneun mugwanhage (Irrelevant to My Sleep), Changbi, 2021
(co-authored) Barineun robosida: dasi taeeonaneun iyagideul (Bari Is a Robot: Stories Being Reborn), Anonbooks, 2022
Essay collections
(co-authored) Dangsineui samuldeul: samureul daehaneun ne gaji gamgak (Your Objects: Four Sensory Approaches to Things), Hanibook, 2015
(co-authored) Heungmyeon baengmyeon (Dark Side White Side), Nunchiwoogi, 2017
(co-authored) Pulbate beoryeojin gamjacheoreom (Like a Potato Abandoned in the Grass), Jeonmang, 2020
Others
(co-authored) Neo honja ol su inni (Can You Come Alone), Mirae M&B, 2011
(co-authored) Uijareul singo dallineun, 1-20 (Running with Chairs for Shoes) audiobook, Media Changbi, 2015
(co-authored) Yeoseongiraneun yesul: urineun gakjaui seulpeumeseo jaranda (Woman as an Art Form: We Grow from Our Own Sorrow), Arte, 2019
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