Jang Jeongil (; born 1962) is a South Korean

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Life

Jang Jeongil was born in

Dalseong County Dalseong County (Dalseong-gun) is a ''gun'' occupying much of south and western Daegu, South Korea. A largely rural district lying along the Nakdong River, it makes up nearly half of Daegu's total area. It is divided in half by a narrow piece o ...

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

in 1962. He embarked on his literary career in 1984 when four of his poems including “Gangjeong ganda” were published in volume 3 of ''The World of Language''.

Work

Jang Jeongil kicked off his literary career in 1984 with the publication of four poems including ''Going to Gangjeong'' in ''The World of Language'' and was quickly labeled a "masochistic terrorist," and a poet who "exposes pretensions of wickedness in society with devilishly puritanical spirit". In 1987, his play ''Interior Drama'' (Sillaegeuk) was chosen as the winner of the New Spring Literary Contest sponsored by Dong-a Ilbo and his poetry collection ''A Meditation on Hamburger'' (Haembeogeoae daehan meongsang) won the Kim Su-yeong Literature Prize. Despite the fact that his formal education ended after he graduated from Seongseo Middle School, Jang Jeong-il possesses encyclopedic knowledge of poetry, music, drama and culture, which heightened public fascination with the author. Jang’s ''

When Adam Opens His Eyes ''When Adam Opens His Eyes'' () is a Korean novel written by Jang Jung-il. It is a coming-of-age story of a 19-year-old boy who has taken a gap year to retake the yearly College Scholastic Ability Test, and also an artist novel that seeks a poss ...

'' (Adami nuneul tteulttae) contains stories of many different genres. Much of Jang Jeongil's work has been adapted into movies or plays, including his A Journey with Oedipus. Jang’s work relies on the innovative technique of communicating through self-destruction. Exposing the destructive evil lying underneath the seemingly wholesome exterior of the society, the author purposely stimulates a feeling of discomfort in the readers while revealing himself fully and without shame. Jang was arrested when the court judged his novel, ''Try Lying to Me'' (Naegae geojinmareul haeboa, 1996) to be pornographic."Jang Jeong-il" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#

Works in Translation

* The Shampoo Fairy (1987) - This work was later the inspiration for the 1990 song '샴푸의 요정(Fairy of Shampoo)' by the band Light & Salt, Jang Kee-Ho & Park Sung-Sik. Further eliciting a 2020 remake of the same name by

Tomorrow X Together Tomorrow X Together (; Tomorrow by Together, stylized in all caps), commonly abbreviated as TXT, is a South Korean boy group formed by Big Hit Entertainment. The group consists of five members: Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and HueningK ...

* Voices in Diversity: Poets from Postwar Korea (전후시선 ) * When Adam's Eyes Opened (November, 2013)

Works in Korean (Partial)

Poetry Collections * A Meditation on Hamburger (Haembeogeo-e daehan myeongsang, 1987) * Catching a Cab in the Road (Gil aneseo taeksi japgi) (1988) Short-Story Collections * I Send Myself To You (Neo-ege nareul bonaenda, 1992) * Do You Believe in Jazz? (Neohiga jaejeureul minneunya?, 1994) * Try Lying To Me (Naege geojinmareul haebwa, 1996) Collection of Plays * A Long Journey (Gin yeohaeng, 1995).

Awards

Kim Suyeong Literary Award The Kim Suyeong Literary Award is a List of literary awards, literary award established in 1981 by :ko:민음사, Minumsa in honor of the South Korean poet Kim Su-yeong. Prizewinners References

{{Kim Suyeong Literary Award winners South K ...

(1987)

References

* *"Yi Mun-Yol" Biographical PDF, LTI Korea, p. 3 available at LTI Korea Librar
online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jang, Jeongil 1962 births Korean writers Living people Asan Jang clan People from Daegu