Gong Sun-ok

Gong Sun-ok (The romanization preferred by the author according to LTI Korea^[1]) is a modern Korean writer.^[2]

Life

Gong's early life was not easy. She was born in Gokseong County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Her father, who abandoned the family early on, led a wandering existence in order to evade creditors and her mother suffered from weak health. Although Gong was accepted into university, she was ultimately forced to leave because she could not afford the tuition and made a living by working as a factory hand and long-distance express bus attendant.^[3] Perhaps for this reason, the women in Gong’s fiction tend to be those at the bottom of the economic ladder.^[4]

Work

Gong Sun-ok portrays traditional life in rural areas in reflection of her hometown in the southern Jeolla province^[5] Gong Sun-ok debuted in 1991 with her novella "Seeds of Fire." Gong's female characters reside at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, including the girl in "That’s Life," a squatter living in a freezing derelict apartment building without heat or electricity who ultimately loses her life in a butane gas accident.^[6]

The city of Gwangju is another reoccurring motif in Gong’s work. Her husband is a survivor of the Gwangju uprising, a pro-democracy movement suppressed by the South Korean government in 1980. Gong lived not far from the scene of the protest and the university she briefly attended was also in Gwangju. Gong’s debut work "Seeds of Fire" portrays the harrowing experience and resulting trauma of the men who had taken part in the Gwangju Democratization Movement. Her key works including the short stories "A Thirsty Season," "Alibi for the Next Season," and the novel When I Was Most Beautiful are also set in Gwangju. In her work, Gong portrays the sorrow and loss of Gwangju citizens who have personally experienced these atrocities.

Nevertheless, hope can still be found in Gong’s work—not vague optimism, but hope in the fierce will of people who try to live cheerfully in the midst of pain.^[7]

Works in translation

Come to the Sorghum Field (Susubat-euro oseyo)

• Приходите на поле гаоляна — Russian
• 请到玉米地来 — Chinese
• "The Flowering of Our Lives" (in The Future of Silence Fiction By Korean Women)
• Wandering Family (Yuranggajok)
• La familia itinerante - Spanish

Works in Korean (Partial)

• My Thirties Left Behind in Oji-ri (Ojiri-e du-go on seoreunsal 1993)
• Bloom, Daffodil (Pieora suseonhwa 1994)
• Alibi for the Next Life (Nae saeng-ui allibai 1998)
• A Wonderful World (Meotjin han sesang 2002)
• Wandering Family (Yuranggajok 2005)
• Merrily Through the Night (Myeongnanghan bamgil 2007)
• When I Was Most Beautiful (Nae-ga gajang Yeppeosseul ddae 2009)

Awards

• Women News Literature Prize (1992)
• Shin Dongyeop Writing Award (1995)
• Today's Young Artist Award (2004)
• This Year's Literary Prize (Olhaemunhaksang 2005)^[8]
• Baek Sangae Literature Prize (2008)^[9]
• Manhae Literature Prize (2009)^[10]
• Oh Yeongsu Literature Prize (2009)
• Catholic Literature Prize (2009)^[11]
• Yosan Literature Prize (2011)^[12]

See also

• Korean Literature
• List of Korean novelists

References

External links