Song Sugwon, also Song Soo-Kwon (, March 15, 1940 – April 4, 2016), was a modern

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n writer.

Life

Song Sugwon was born on March 15, 1940, in

Goheung County Goheung County (''Goheung-gun'') is a county in Jeollanam-do Province, South Korea. Naro Space Center The Naro Space Center was completed during 2008 in southern Goheung and is operated by the state-run Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Th ...

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollanam-do''; ), also known as Jeonnam, is a province of South Korea. South Jeolla has a population of 1,902,324 (2014) and has a geographic area of located in the Honam region at the southwestern tip of the Korean ...

. Song attended Suncheon Normal School and Goheung Junior High School before from Sorabol Arts College with a degree in Creative Writing. Song worked at the Kwangju Yogwang Girls Middle School as both a teacher and an educational researcher.

Career

Of Song Sugwon's poetry, the

Korea Literature Translation Institute The Literature Translation Institute of Korea ( ko, 한국문학번역원, LTI Korea, formerly known as Korean Literature Translation Fund) was founded in 1996 by the Government of South Korea with the aim of promoting Korean literature and cultu ...

wrote:

Bitterness is the most salient sentiment in this Song Sugweon’s work; but his poetry emphasizes not the typical sentiment of a weak bitterness giving rise to self-contempt, but rather, within that bitterness, a dignified masculine identity of immanent intimacy and power. He has published many works that succeed in preserving the flavor and style of the southern dialects, designed to inspire the people through a consciousness of history and regional differences.

Song's work centers on the lives of common people, although Song does not see live as a confrontation between have and have-nots, and Song's work follows the lines of classical Korean lyricism. Having lived in South Jeolla Province most of his life, including at the time of his death, Song Sugwon was able to infuse his poetry with the regional culture.

Works in Korean (partial)

Poetry

* ''At the Temple Gate'' (, 1980) * ''Dreaming Island'' (, 1982) * ''Mute Porcelain'' (, 1984) * ''Bird! Bird! O Bluebird!'' (, 1986) * ''Our Land'' (, 1988) * ''Even in Sleep I Smile at the Thought of You'' (, 1991) * ''Watchman on a Starry Night'' (, 1992) * ''Wildflower World'' (, 1999) * ''Green Prison'' (, 1999) * ''Pacheonmu'' (, 2001) * ''Planting a Joseon Plum Tree in the Frozen Ground'' (, 2005) * ''A Country Road or a Liquor-Barrel'' (, 2007) * ''Magpie food'' (), Unknown)

Prose

* ''Once Again At the Temple Gate'' (, 1985) * ''Love Folds Its Huge Wings'' (, 1989) * ''Journey to the South'' (, 1990) * ''Indigo World'' (, 1998) * ''Mandala Sea'' (, 2002)

Awards

* Literature and Thought () New Writers Award (1975)송수권(宋秀權)
/ref> * Ministry of Culture and Information Arts Award () * Geumho Cultural Foundation Arts award () * Jeollanam-do Culture award () *

Sowol Poetry Prize The Sowol Poetry Prize () is one of the most prestigious literary awards in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing ...

(1987)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Sugwon Korean writers South Korean poets 1940 births 2016 deaths People from Goheung County