Djuna () is a South Korean pseudonymous

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writer and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

. Djuna is managed by Greenbook Agency.

Life

The identity of Djuna is unknown, and Djuna prefers the personal pronoun "they." They publish all their works under the name Djuna, and interviews are done by e-mail correspondence or online chats. For some of their early works, they used the name ''Lee Youngsoo'', but it is generally taken as a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

, because Lee Youngsoo is one of the most common names in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. They explain the name Djuna as coming from writer

Djuna Barnes Djuna Barnes ( ; June 12, 1892 – June 18, 1982) was an American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer who is perhaps best known for her novel '' Nightwood'' (1936), a cult classic of lesbian fiction and an important work of modernist lite ...

and a character in a work by the pseudonymous

Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1928 by the American detective fiction writers Frederic Dannay (1905–1982) and Manfred Bennington Lee (1905–1971). It is also the name of their main fictional detective, a mystery writer in New York City ...

. The capitalization was due to Djuna's belief that using lowercase letters for proper nouns was "awkward". In 2020, Djuna succeeded Soyeon Jeong as the second president of the Science Fiction Writers Union of the Republic of Korea, leaving office in 2021.

Works

Djuna debuted in 1997 with the anthology ''Butterfly War''. In 2023 their first major work has been translated to English (the novel ''

Counterweight A counterweight is a weight (object), weight that, by applying an opposite force, provides balance and stability of a machine, mechanical system. The purpose of a counterweight is to make lifting the load faster and more efficient, which saves e ...

'').

Reception

Since the 1990s, Djuna has been one of the most prolific and important writers in the South Korean science fiction field. Djuna been described as "a literary giant in Korea".

Selected works

They have published seven

short story collection A short story collection is a book of short stories and/or novellas by a single author. A short story collection is distinguished from an anthology of fiction, which would contain work by several authors (e.g., '' Les Soirées de Médan''). Th ...

s, six novels, and two essays.

Short story collections

* ''Butterfly War'' (나비전쟁) 1997 * ''Duty Free Area'' (면세구역) 2000 * ''Pacific Express'' (태평양 횡단 특급) 2002 * ''Proxy War'' (대리전) 2006 * ''Teeth of the Dragon'' (용의 이) 2007 * ''Bloody Battle on the Broccoli Field'' (브로콜리 평원의 혈투) 2011 * ''Not Yet a God'' (아직은 신이 아니야) 2013

Novels

* ''Molok'' (몰록) 2001 * ''The Shadow of Spiderweb'' (거미줄 그늘) 2009 * ''Jezebel'' (제저벨) 2012 * ''The World of Mint'' (민트의 세계) 2018 *''There I Existed In Arcadia'' (아르카디아에도 나는 있었다) 2019 *''

'' (평형추) 2021.

Film criticism

* ''Complaining over the Screen'' (스크린 앞에서 투덜대기) 2001 * ''Film Shakespeare'' (필름 셰익스피어) 2005 * ''Genre Encyclopedia: SF Film'' (장르백서 2: SF영화) 2015

Non-fiction

* ''Possible Spaces of Dreams: Djuna Essay'' (가능한 꿈의 공간들:듀나 에세이) 2015

References

External links

Djuna, South Korea’s Enigmatic Sci-Fi Legend, Opens Up About Their New Book
Wired, 11 July 2023 {{authority control South Korean novelists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) South Korean science fiction writers 20th-century South Korean writers 21st-century South Korean writers 20th-century births