Jeong Kkeutbyeol (; born 1964) is a South Korean poet, literary critic, and professor. She studied

Korean literature Korean literature is the body of literature produced by Koreans, mostly in the Korean language and sometimes in Classical Chinese. For much of Korea's 1,500 years of literary history, it was written in Hanja. It is commonly divided into classica ...

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 ins ...

and graduated with a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. Along with numerous volumes of poetry, Jeong has published several collections of critical essays, including ''The Poetics of Parody'' (, 1997) and ''The Language of Poetry Has a Thousand Tongues'' (, 1999).

Life

Jeong Kkeutbyeol was born in

Naju Naju () is a city in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. The capital of South Jeolla was located at Naju until it was moved to Gwangju in 1895. The name Jeolla actually originates from the first character of Jeonju () and the first character of Na ...

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korean ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in 1964. In 1983 she graduated from Myeongji Girls’ High School and enrolled in

, graduating with a degree in Korean Language and Literature in 1987, then going on to earn her

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

degrees from the same university in 1989 and 1994, respectively. Since 2002 Jeong Kkeutbyeol has variously served as a researcher at the Society of Ewha Korean Language and Literature, an adjunct professor in the Creative Writing department of

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 ...

, an honorary professor at the Korean Language and Literature department at her alma mater, and an assistant professor in the Practical Language and Literature department of

Open Cyber University Open Cyber University (OCU) is a consortium of Korean universities. It was founded in 1997 and is considered as the largest Korean academic exchange university as of 2012 with 35 member universities. The organization is authorized by South Korea's ...

. In 2004 she was awarded the Yushim Award by the Society for the Promotion and Practice of Manhae's Thoughts. She won 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� ...

in 2008 for her poem "Vast Sleep" (). In 2014 Jeong was appointed as a professor of

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

at both Ewha Womans University and

Myongji University Myongji University () is a private, Christian university founded in 1948 in South Korea. It provides higher education in the fields of engineering, sciences and humanities. It has two campuses: the Social Science Campus is located in Seoul and th ...

, where she currently works. She also participated in the 2015 East Asia Literature Forum.

Writing

Jeong Kkeutbyeol's literary debut was in 1988, when her poem "Sea of Calais" () was selected for publication in the literary journal ''Monthly Literature and Thought''. A year later, in 1989, her critical essay "A Cold Parodist's Despair and Inquiry" () won

The Dong-a Ilbo The ''Dong-A Ilbo'' (, literally ''East Asia Daily'') is a newspaper of record in Korea since 1920 with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million and opinion leaders as its main readers. ''The Dong-A Ilbo'' is the parent company of Dong-A M ...

New Writer's Contest. Her first collection of poetry, ''My Life, a Birch Tree'' (, 1996) was highly regarded by critics and fellow writers alike. Jeong's other poetry collections include ''White Book'' (, 2000), ''180 Thousand Years and the Color Peach'' (, 2005), ''Bursting'' (, 2008), and ''Subject Markers, Topic Markers'' (, 2014). She has also published several collections of critical and literary essays, most notably ''The Poetics of Parody'' (, 1997), which systematically discusses theories on parody, analyzing them in the context of contemporary Korean poetry. Another of her essay collections, ''The Language of Poetry Has a Thousand Tongues'' (, 1999), provides an open-minded approach to literary criticism, focusing on the infinite linguistic possibilities of poetry. Jeong's poems are known for their rich imagery and use of language, particularly in regards to their descriptions of nature, their linguistic creativity, and their use of poetic devices. Jeong's poetry typically explores the linguistic details of the

, such as in her collection ''Subject Markers, Topic Markers'' (, 2014), whose title refers to the main four nominative case markers in Korean.

Works

Works in Korean

Poetry collections

* ''My Life, a Birch Tree'' (, 1996) * ''White Book'' (, 2000) * ''180 Thousand Years and the Color Peach'' (, 2005) * ''Bursting'' (, 2008) * ''Subject Markers, Topic Markers'' (, 2014)

Research and critical essays

* ''The Poetics of Parody'' (, 1997) * ''The Language of Poetry Has a Thousand Tongues'' (, 1999) * ''The Poetics of Pi'' (, 2010)

Works in translation

* Selected poems in ''A Galaxy Of Whale Poems: Poems by 50 Korean Poets''
"Trees Standing at the Edge"

References

External links

Jeong Kkeutbyeol's Contributions to Naver Cast.

''Trees Standing at the Edge''
''

PEN America PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922 and headquartered in New York City, is a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the United States and worldwide through the advancement of litera ...

'' Online Translation Slam
Interview with Jeong Kkeutbyeol.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeong, Kkeutbyeol 1964 births 20th-century South Korean poets South Korean literary critics 21st-century South Korean poets South Korean women poets Living people People from Naju 21st-century South Korean women writers 21st-century South Korean writers 20th-century South Korean women writers 20th-century South Korean writers Ewha Womans University alumni