Cheon Yanghui (, born January 21, 1942) is a South Korean poet, best known for her poetry collection ''Sorghum Field of the Heart'' (, 1994).

Life

Cheon Yanghui was born in

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

on 21 January 1942 as the youngest of seven children. Throughout her childhood she was heavily influenced by her father, an enthusiast of poetry and ''

pansori ' () is a Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singer and a drummer. The term ''pansori'' is derived from the Korean words ''pan'' (Hangul: 판) and ''sori'' (Hangul: 소리), the latter of which means "sound." However, ''pan ...

'', and by her grandfather, a lay

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. She often wrote and recited poems, despite being unable to participate in art festivals due to administrative issues at her school. In 1962 Cheon enrolled in

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's university in Seoul founded in 1886 by Mary F. Scranton under Emperor Gojong. It was the first university founded in South Korea. Currently, Ewha is one of the world's largest female educational inst ...

, graduating with a degree in Korean literature.

Career

Cheon Yanghui's career followed an unusual trajectory in that she began publishing in her 20s, stopped for nearly two decades, then resumed publishing poetry in her 40s, to great critical acclaim. Her literary debut was in 1965, when the prestigious literary magazine '' Hyundae Munhak'' published three of her poems - "Once in a Garden" (), "Harmony" (), and "Morning" () - thanks to a recommendation from Pak Dujin. After Cheon Yanghui married in 1969, she stopped writing and publishing poetry, although she eventually divorced her husband and became the manager of a

dressmaker A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notab ...

's shop. During this time she also suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

and a heart condition. In 1983 Cheon returned to poetry by publishing the collection ''If God Asks Us'' (). While many of Cheon Yanghui's earlier works reflect on an isolated self, more of her later poems - beginning with her most well-known poetry collection ''Sorghum Field of the Heart'' (, 1994) - focus more on the everyday hardships, sorrows, and frustrations of living a more "typical" life. From her more mature perspective, Cheon was able to write eloquently about what insights she had learned over the past several decades of her life. More recent publications, such as ''Too Many Mouths'' (, 2005), further elaborate on her perspective of what it means to write and publish poetry in modern society. Cheon Yanghui has received the

Sowol Poetry Prize The Sowol Poetry Prize () is one of the most prestigious literary awards in South Korea. Established by the publishing company Moonhaksasangsa () in 1986, the prize aims to commemorate the soul of the poetry of Kim Sowol Kim Sowol ( ko, 김소 ...

, the

Contemporary Literature (Hyundae Munhak) Award The company Contemporary Literature (“Hyundae Munhak” in Korean), founded in South Korea in 1954, is one of the leading publishing companies in the literary field and has been publishing the nation's most prestigious monthly literary magazine ...

, Gong Cho Literature Award, Pak Dujin Literary Award, and Manhae Literature Prize.

Works

Poetry collections

* ''If God Asks Us'' (, 1984) * ''Sorghum Field of the Heart'' (, 1994) * ''Old Alley'' (, 1998) * ''Too Many Mouths'' (, 2005) * ''Sometimes I Stand Motionless'' (, 2011)

Essay collections

* ''Into Jikso Fall'' (, 2004) * ''Strolling in the Forest of Poetry'' (, 2006) * ''When in Desperation, We Always Kneel Down'' (, 2013) * ''I Am a Wind That Does Not Howl'' (, 2014) * ''Writing Class'' (, 2015)

Works in translation

* Poems in ''Korean Literature Today'' Vol 4, No 4, Winter, 1999 * Poems in Vol 59

Awards

* 1996:

- for "Fastening Buttons" () * 1998:

- for "Old Alley" and four others () * 2005: Gong Cho Literature Prize * 2007: Pak Dujin Literary Award * 2011: Han Yong-un Literature Prize

References

External links

Poetry reading

Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheon, Yanghui 1942 births Ewha Womans University alumni 21st-century South Korean poets People from Busan Living people South Korean women poets 20th-century South Korean poets 20th-century South Korean women writers 21st-century South Korean women writers Yang-hui