Shin Yong-Mok (Hangul: 신용목) is a South Korean poet.
Life
Shin Yong-Mok was born in
Geochang
Geochang County (''Geochang-gun,'' ) is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The Geochang International Festival of Theater, which was started in 1989, is renowned as the best play festival in Korea. The District Office is lo ...
,
Gyeongsangnam-do
South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World H ...
,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...
in 1974. Shin entered college by which time he was already writing poetry. He was elected
student body president
The student government president (sometimes called "student ''body'' president," "student ''council'' president" or "''school'' president") is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class ...
and immediately attacked his university for corruption. He also undertook a fast in protest for democratization of educational institutions. Shin made his literary debut in the year 2000.
Work
Shin was influenced by older-generation activist poets, so-called "poets of the masses" (minjung shiin), such as
Kim Nam-ju
Kim or KIM may refer to:
Names
* Kim (given name)
* Kim (surname)
** Kim (Korean surname)
*** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties
**** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948
** Kim, Vietnamese ...
and
Shin Kyeong-nim
Shin Kyeong-nim (Hangul: 신경림) is a South Korean writer who is known as a "poet of the people"
Life
Shin Kyeong-nim was born on April 6, 1936 in North Chungcheong Province, South Korea. When he was young, Shin Kyong-rim frequented the pe ...
, and genuinely anguished over the problem of the path literature should take in society and history.
The quintessential "new poet", Shin's poems avoid overt ideology. Shin's clearly spells out messages of love for the community in soft, easy lyricism, and this is based in his own firm belief in the value of "co-existence with one's fellow man" over "self-happiness."
.
Even amid the wave of neoliberalism in which competition among writers is considered a necessary evil, Shin sees meaning in even the smallest of hopes, in order to protect the dignity and liberty of the human being. As in the lines "Every hour given me / I take my flashlight and go check the reins / to see if there is any damage" (selected passage from "Jeong of the Guard"), he places himself in the position of a "guard" responsible for "positivity". Shin's work argues that the value and importance of the spirit will never fade, even in the materialism of capitalist society.
Shin has won multiple awards, including Newcomers Literary Prize in 2000, the Beginning Literary Prize in 2008, and the 육사시문학상 젊은시인상 prize, also in 2008.
Works in Korean (Partial)
Poetry Collections
* We Must Walk All of the Wind (Geu balameul da geoleoya handa, Munhakgwa jiseongsa, 2004)
* The Wind's Millionth Molar (Balam ui baekmanjjae eogeumni, Changbi, 2007)
Awards
* Newcomers Literary Prize (2000)
* Beginning Literary Prize (2008)
* 육사시문학상 젊은시인상 prize (2008)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Yong-mok
1974 births
Korean writers
Living people
Yong-mok