Kim Myeongin is a South Korean poet and author.

Life

Kim Myeongin was born on September 2, 1946, in

Uljin Uljin County (''Uljin-gun''; Korean: 울진군) is a county in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Before 1963, Uljin was in Gangwon Province. It borders the Sea of Japan in the east, Bonghwa-gun and Yeongyang-gun in the west, Yeongdeok-gun i ...

, Gyeongsangbuk-do. He attended Hupo High School, and graduated from

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

with a degree in

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 ...

. He received his Ph.D. from Korea University in 1985. Kim is currently a professor of Korean Literature at

. Kim has been a visiting professor at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, USA, and at

Far Eastern College Far Eastern University (Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan''), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a private non-sectarian liberal arts university in Manila, Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Instit ...

, Russia. Along with Lee Jongok and Kim Myeongsu, Kim is a member of the literary coterie ''Anti-Poetry''.

Work

Kim made his literary debut in 1973 when his poem "Celebration for the Ship Leaving Port" won a literary contest sponsored 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 three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also publ ...

. Running throughout Kim's poetry is an abiding concern with memory - not one of a beautiful past but one of suffering. In Kim's work, memory resembles a sickness, a disease which limits one's ability to move about freely. While memory is concerned with the past, it also possesses the power to torment the self living in the present. Insofar as it is only through direct confrontation with memory that the self can be healed, this memory of a scarred, wounded past, however, cannot be secreted away or forgotten. Memory in Kim's poetry centers around two overwhelmingly dark images - his father and the Korean War. Born in 1946, Kim's childhood was inextricably entwined with the experience of war. This memory of a childhood shattered by war emerges in the poem " Kentucky House 1". As we see in the poem "Father in the Rain", the memory of receiving no protection in the midst of the extremities of war points to the rejection of a certain absolute, symbolized here by the father. By reviving memories of childhood suffering, the poet aims to release himself from past experiences which cloud his life in the present. Memory enables the poet to discover the other within the self; this other, in turn, opens new possibilities for the self. In Kim's poetry, then, confrontation with the past seeks to broaden one's range of emotions in order to open the possibility of true experience. As his career moved on, Kim Myeongin began by writing poems directly inspired by the sufferings of orphans and the most wretched in society, but then turned to subjects more often related to nature and more directly reflective of his own inner world.

Awards

* Kim Daljin Literary Prize (1992) *

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� ...

(1992) * Dongseo Literary Prize (1995) *

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 ' ...

(2000) * Yi San Literary Prize (2001) * Daesan Literary Prize - Poetry Section (2005) * Lee Hyeonggi Literary Prize (2006) * Jihoon Prize Literary Award (2007) * Webzine <''Si-in gwangjang''> (Poets Square)'s This Year's Good Poem Award (2011)

Works in Translation

* L'Accordéon de la mer et autres poèmes (French)

Works in Korean (partial)

* ''Dongducheon'' (1979) * ''Swanee Faraway'' (''Meonameon got seuwani'' 1988) * ''Playing with a Blue Puppy'' (''Pureun gangaji nolda'' 1994) * ''A Funeral by the Sea'' (''Badaga-ui Jangrye'' 1997) * ''Silence of the Street'' (''Gil-ui chimmuk'' 1999) * ''Sea Accordion'' (''Bada-ui akodieon'' 2002) * ''Ripple'' (''Pamun'' 2005) * ''Warm Stillness'' (''Ttatteuthan jeokmak'' 2006) * ''Inflorescence'' (''Kkotcharye'' 2009)

References