Hwang Byungsng (4 April 1970 – July 2019) was a South Korean poet. He studied creative writing at the

Seoul Institute of the Arts Seoul Institute of the Arts is a prominent educational institution specializing in the Arts located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The school has nurtured many graduates who are actively working in art related fields within Korea as w ...

and

Chugye University for the Arts Chugye University for the Arts is a South Korean institute of higher education in the fine arts. The campus is in Seodaemun-gu in central Seoul, the country's capital. Academics Undergraduate courses are offered toward Bachelor of Arts, Bachelo ...

. He finished coursework in creative writing at Myongji Graduate School. Hwang is considered to have made a radical break from the

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

tradition and introduced queer imagination, subcultural thinking, and stateless language to South Korean literature through the

genderqueer Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

voice of multisexual subjects.

Life

Hwang Byungsng was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea, in 1970. He received a degree in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

at both the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Chugye University for the Arts. He finished masters-level coursework in creative writing at Myongji Graduate School. In 2003, "''Juchiui h''" (주치의h Primary Doctor h) and five other poems were published in ''Para 21'', marking his literary debut. He has published three poetry collections to date: ''Yeojangnamja Sikoku'' (여장남자 시코쿠 Sikoku, the Man Dressed as Woman) (2005); ''Teuraekgwa deulpanui byeol'' (트랙과 들판의 별 Tracks and Stars in the Field) (2007); and ''Yukchaeshowa jeonjip'' (육체쇼와 전집 Body Show and Complete Works) (2013). In 2012, his work appeared in a special issue featuring Korean poetry ("Po&sie-Corée’") by the French poetry magazine ''Po&sie''. He won the 11th Park In-Hwan Literary Award in 2010 and the 13th Midang Literary Award in 2013.

Writing

Hwang Byungsng's first poetry collection ''Yeojangnamja Sikoku'' (여장남자 시코쿠 Sikoku, the Man Dressed as Woman) was one of the most widely discussed books in South Korean literary circles during the 2000s. The collection was noted for its open display of desire and impulse, and for its abstract portrayal of objects and spaces. His poetic diction and voice were also very different from conventional

Korean poetry Korean poetry is poetry performed or written in the Korean language or by Korean people. Traditional Korean poetry is often sung in performance. Until the 20th century, much of Korean poetry was written in Hanja and later Hangul. History The pe ...

. Critics would later describe him as "carrying out, through the play of signifiers, the near impossible work of restoring the world we lost to its original form" (Gwon Hyeok-ung) or as "a powerful detonator that will blow up the ideology of authenticity in modern Korean poetry and its tedious standards" (Lee Gwang-ho). On the other hand, Hwang has been criticized for using "language that does not communicate" and writing "incomprehensible poetry". As mixed opinions of his work continued to build, he became one of the most talked about poets in the 2000s. As its title suggests, Hwang's first poetry collection explores queer themes and divided subjects by bringing to the forefront the "man dressed as a woman", a character of no clear gender. His second poetry collection ''Teuraekgwa deulpanui byeo''l (트랙과 들판의 별 Tracks and Stars in the Field) portrays the wanderings, rebellions, and romances of children who failed to grow up. In this sense, the collection takes readers to a strange fairy-tale world that defies the existing, adult world. Hwang uses a collage of imagery and juxtaposes various stories to powerful effect. Told in a unique format, the stories are ultimately a vast, ironical criticism of the real world at large. Hwang's third poetry collection ''Yukchaeshowa jeonjip'' (육체쇼와 전집 Body Show and Complete Works) sharply ridicules the existing social order, focusing on the idea of failure.

Works

Poetry collections

* 『여장남자 시코쿠』(랜덤하우스, 2005) * 『트랙과 들판의 별』(문학과 지성, 2007) * 『육체쇼와 전집』(문학과 지성, 2013)

Works in translation

*
Melancholy Walnut Pie
(English) *
We Ate Cookies Together
(English) * "Coming Out," "Sikoku, the Man Dressed as Woman," "Her Face Is a Battlefield," "Two Stillborn Hearts," "Fish Song" i
AZALEA (Journal of Korean Literature & Culture) : Volume Five
(English)

Awards

* 2010: Park In-Hwan Literary Award * 2013:

Midang Literary Award Midang Literary Award (hangul: 미당문학상) is established in June 2001 by the JoongAng Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formally known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'', is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the thr ...