Kim Yeonsu

Kim Yeon-Su
Born	1970 (age 53–54) South Korea
Occupation	Author
Language	Korean
Nationality	South Korean
Period	1970-Present
Genre	Modernist

Kim Yeonsu
Hangul	김연수
Revised Romanization	Gim Yeon-su
McCune–Reischauer	Kim Yŏn-su

Kim Yeon-su (Korean: 김연수; born 1970) is a South Korean writer.

Life

Kim Yeon-su was born in Kimcheon, Kyeongsangbuk-do in 1970. He graduated with a degree in English Literature from Sungkyunkwan University, which was founded in 1398 as the highest national educational institute in the early years of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. After graduation Kim was an office worker by day, a translator at night, and spent the remainder of his time writing novels. In 1997 Kim worked as a reporter for a woman's magazine, and this experience was also key to his outlook that daily life is difficult.

Work

Kim made his debut in 1993 with a poem in the journal Jakka Segye (Writer’s World) and the next year published a novel I Wear a Mask (Gamyeon-eul Gariki-myeo Geotgi). His work World’s End Girlfriend sold 40,000 copies in less than three months of publication

Kim’s literary world is shaped by his study of humanities and at the same time owes much to the Spanish writer, Jorges Luis Borghes, whose influence is paramount in his first collection of short stories, Twenty Years Old. The author’s admiration of Borghes is particularly evident in such stories as “Babel’s Library” and “Funes, A Master of Remembrance” which are often seen as an homage to the famed writer.

Kim did not content himself with a place in the shadow of a literary great. His third novel, Good Bye Lee Sang was met with a critical reception worthy of a masterpiece at the very pinnacle of humanistic imagination. To be sure, Borghesian influence is still unmistakable, but only in the background: the novel, as a whole, is animated by the author’s own meticulous and in-depth study of Lee Sang, the Korean existentialist writer of the 1930’s who produced some of the most exotic and complex stories in Korean literary history. Good Bye Lee Sang is concerned with the question of truth and of existence as well as the very definition of literature which, in Kim’s view, are not mutually exclusive. “The reason why I write,” the author has said,” is to find out whether the truth does indeed exist in the act of writing.”

When I Was Still A Child, which first appeared in serial form, is a collection of stories based on his childhood and adolescence. Although it was written with considerable ease and employs much lighter tone of voice than Good Bye Lee Sang, the stories in this collection provide yet another venue for exploring the nature of truth, which has always remained the focus of Kim’s interest.

As a young author, Kim’s works are just now being translated with only the short story New York Bakery already published. Ne-ga Nugu-deun, Eolmana Oeropdeun (Whoever You are, No matter how lonely you are) is being translated into Japanese, Chinese, and Russian, while Saranghae, Seonnyeong-a (I Love You, Seonnyeong) is being translated into French. The French translation of his 2005 collection of short stories Na-neun Yuryeong Jakga Imnida (I’m a Ghost Writer) has been completed and is waiting to be published by Zulma Publishing and the collection is also being translated into German and English.

Awards

Dong-in Literary Award (2005) When Still a Child
Daesan Literary Award (2005) I am a Ghostwriter
Hwang Sun-won Literary Award (2007) The Comedian Who Went to the Moon
Yi Sang Literary Prize (2009) Five Pleasures for Those Who Take Walks

Works in English

New York Bakery

Works in Korean (Partial)

Collections
• 《스무살》 (문학동네, 2000)
• 《내가 아직 아이였을때》 (문학동네, 2002)
• 《나는 유령작가입니다》 (창작과 비평, 2005)
• 《세계의 끝 여자친구》 (문학동네, 2009)
• Long Fiction
• 《가면을 가리키며 걷기》 (세계사, 1994)
• 《7번국도》 (문학동네, 1997)
• 《꾿빠이 이상》 (문학동네, 2001)
• 《사랑이라니, 선영아》 (작가정신, 2003)
• 《네가 누구든 얼마나 외롭든》 (문학동네, 2007)
• 《밤은 노래한다》 (문학과 지성사, 2008)
• 《7번국도 REVISITED》(문학동네, 2010)
• 《원더보이》 (문학동네, 2012)
• 《파도가 바다의 일이라면》 (자음과모음, 2012)
Translations
• 조지 쉬언,《달리기와 존재하기》(한문화, 2003)
• 레이먼드 카버,《대성당》(문학동네, 2007)
• 하 진,《기다림》(시공사, 2007)