Lee Seung-u (, born 21 February 1959) is a South Korean writer.

Life

Lee Seung-u was born in Jangheung, Jeollanam-do in 1959.The Globalizing World and the Human Community, The Seoul International Forum of Literature 2011, p. 392 Lee Seung-u graduated from

Seoul Theological University Seoul Theological University is an evangelical bible college founded in 1911 to cultivate Christian workers and leaders on the basis of the traditions and precepts of the Korea Evangelical Holiness Church. The university was established to uphol ...

and studied at

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

Graduate School of Theology.Korean Literature Translation Institute, Author Introductions.
One of the outstanding writers to have emerged in South Korea after the political repression of the 1980s, he is today

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Korean Literature at

Chosun University Chosun University () is one of the oldest private universities in South Korea. Its campus is situated in Gwangju metropolitan city, in southwestern South Korea. Around 33,000 students are enrolled. Academics Undergraduate courses are offere ...

. Lee's literary career started with his novel ''A Portrait of Erysichton'', which was triggered by his shock at the assassination attempt of Pope Paul II in 1981. This work received the New Writers Award from ''Korean Literature Monthly''.Park Hae-hyun, "Lee Seung-u, a Korean Author Beloved in France"
In 1993 Lee's ''The Reverse Side of Life'' was awarded the 1st Daesan Literary Award and he has also received he East West Literature Prize for ''I Will Live Long'', the Contemporary Literature Award for Fiction and the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award. In 2021, he won

Yi Sang Literary Award The Yi Sang Literary Award (이상문학상) is a South Korean literary award. It is one of South Korea's most prestigious literary awards, named after Yi Sang, an innovative writer in modern Korean literature. The Yi Sang Literary Award was esta ...

, one of the most prestigious Korean literary awards .

Career

In ''Portrait of Erysichton'', ''In the Shadow of Thorny Bushes'', and ''The Reverse Side of Life'', Lee Seung-u focuses on the notion of Christian redemption and how it intersects with human life, demonstrating how tension between heaven and earth are revealed in quotidian life.Naver-Modern Korean Literature Dictionary, http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=333769&cid=958&categoryId=1992#career Other works, including ''A Conjecture Regarding Labyrinth'' and ''To the Outside of the World'' face up to disillusionment pursuant to the corruption and devaluation of language. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate, has a deep affection for Korean literature. During his year-long stay in Korea as a visiting professor at

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's research university in Seoul, South Korea. It was originally founded as Ewha Haktang on May 31, 1886, by missionary Mary F. Scranton. Currently, Ewha Womans University is one of the world's largest f ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, he held book readings with Korean authors on several occasions. At the press conference after the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

Award Ceremony, he stated that “Korean literature is quite worthy of the Nobel Literature Prize,” and that “Personally, I would say that Lee Seung-u is one of the likely Korean candidates for the prize.”_list Books from Korea, Among Lee Seung-u's works, only full-length novels have been translated into English and French, although he has published a great number of short story collections in the past three decades, due in part to the climate of the Korean literary world in which a writer's capacity is evaluated mostly through short stories published in literary journals.

Works

Works in translation

* ''Die Ruckseite des Lebens'' (Horlemann, 1996)
''The Reverse Side of Life''
(Peter Owen Publishers, 2005) * ''La vida secreta de las plantas'' (Ermitano, 2010) * ' (, 2012) * ''Тайная жизнь растений'' (Hyperion, 2013)
''Magnolia Park''
(

ASIA Publishers ASIA Publishers () is a Seoul-based book publisher best known for producing multi-volume series of translated Korean literature in bilingual format, generally at novella length and usually featuring a short biography of the author, a background of ...

, 2013)Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Magnolia-Bi-lingual-Modern-Korean-Literature/dp/899400680X/ * ''Ici comme ailleurs'' (

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

, 2013)
''Prywatne Życie Roślin''
(Kwiaty Orientu, 2016)

Works in Korean (partial)

Novels

* ''A Portrait of Erysichton'' (''Erysichton-ui chosang'' 1981) * ''In the Shadow of Thorny Bushes'' * ''Warm Rain'' (''Ttatteuthan bi'') * ''Gold Mask'' (''Hwanggeumgamyeon'') * ''The Reverse Side of Life'' (''Saeng-ui imyeon'' 1992) * ''The Private Life of Plants'' (2000) * ''The Old Diary'' (2008) * ''The Gaze of Meridian'' (2009) * ''The Song of the Ground'' (2012)

Short story collections

* ''Mr. Koo Pyeongmok's Cockroach'' (''Gu pyeongmok-ssi-ui bakwibeollae'' 1987) * ''About Eclipse'' * ''To the Outside of the World'' (''Sesang bakkeuro'' 1991) * ''A Conjecture Regarding the Labyrinth'' (''Mingung-e dachan'' 1994) * ''Magnolia Park'' (''Mongyeon gong-won'' 1998)

Awards

* New Writer's Award, given by Korean Literature (1981) * 1st Daesan Literary Award (1993) * Dong-seo Literary Prize (2002) *

Lee Hyo-seok Yi Hyoseok (, April 5, 1907 – May 5, 1942) was a Korean writer. Biography Yi Hyoseok, who wrote under the pen-name 'Gasan' () was born on February 23, 1907, in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province (historical), Gangwon Province, Korean Empire. Yi ...

Literary Prize (2003) *

Contemporary Literature (Hyundae Munhak) Award The company Contemporary Literature (“Hyundae Munhak” in Korean language, 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 l ...

(2007) *

Hwang Sun-won Hwang Sun-wŏn (; March 26, 1915 – September 14, 2000) was a Korean short story writer, novelist, and poet."황순원" biographical PDF available at LTI Korea Library or online at: Life Hwang was born while Korea was under Japanese coloni ...

Literary Award (2010) *

Dong-in Literary Award The Dong-in Literary Award () is a South Korean literary award named after novelist Kim Dong-in, established in order to honour the literary achievement of The Republic of Korea. In commemoration of the Korean modern literature pioneer, Kim Dong- ...

(2013) *

(2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Seung-u 1959 births South Korean novelists Living people Yonsei University alumni Academic staff of Chosun University Incheon Lee clan