Choi In-hun
| Choi In-hun | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 13, 1936 |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Language | Korean |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Ethnicity | Korean |
| Citizenship | South Korean |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 최인훈 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 崔仁勳 |
| Revised Romanization | Choe Inhun |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ch'oe Inhun |
Choi In-hun (born 1936) (Hangul: 최인훈) is a South Korean writer.[1]
Life
Choi, In-hun was born on April 13, 1936 in Hoeryong City, North Hamgyong Province, which is now in North Korea. When the Korean War broke out in 1950, he took refuge with his family to South Korea aboard a U.S. Navy landing ship.[2] He was admitted to the college of Law at Seoul National University in 1952.[3] He did not finish his academic work, instead he joined the army without completing the final semester of his college studies. He served as an English interpreter and TI&E (troop information & education) officer for seven years until he was discharged in 1963.[2] From 1977-2001 he served as a Professor of creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts.[3]
Work
While still in the military, Choi made his literary debut. Most of his work centers on individuals suffering from the ideological conflicts centering on Korean national separation.[2] He is both prolific and controversial. His most famous work is The Square, which was published in 1960 and immediately became successful.[4]
The Square was published on the heels of the Student Revolution on April 19, 1960. This revolution overthrew President Syngman Lee and Choi was one of the first novelists to publish in that era. Consequently, it is regarded as having kicked off the beginning of a new era in Korean modern literature.[2]
The successor to The Square was A Grey Man, which also focused tightly on issues of current politics in South Korea, particularly "the political decadence that culminated in the ouster of Syngman Rhee".[5]
His awards are numerous: The Dongin Literary Award (1966); The Best Playwright Prize of the Hankook Theater and Film Awards (1977); The Meritorious Prize in the Arts Category of the JoongAng Cultural Awards (1978); The Seoul Theater Critics Group Award (1979); The Isan Literary Award (1994); and The Distinguished Alumnus Award of Seoul National University's College of Law (2004).[3]
Works in Translation
- A Grey Man Si Sa Yong O Sa Pub (1988)
- The Square Spindlewood (Sep 1985)
- House of Idols Jimoondang Publishing Company (Feb 2003)
Works in Korean (Partial)
Novels
"Reflections on a Mask"
"The Square" (1960)
"A Dream of Nine Clouds" (1962)
"A Grey Man" (1963)
"Journey to the West" (1966)
"The Sound of Laughter" (1967)
"One Day in the Life of Novelist Kubo" (1969)
"Typhoon" (1973)
"The Keyword" (1994)
Plays
"Where Shall We Meet Again?" (1970)
"Shoo-oo Shoo Once Upon A Time" (1976)
Essays
"Meditation on the Road" (1989)
Awards
- 1966 Dong-in Literary Award
- 2011 Park Kyong-ni Prize[6]
References
- ↑ "최인훈 " biographical PDF available at: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
- 1 2 3 4 http://www.drama21c.net/text/3plays/novelist.htm
- 1 2 3 Choi In-hoon: "The flame in my mind has never died down for the past 48 years.”
- ↑ Minmusa, p 38
- ↑ Choi, In-hoon. A Grey Man. Si-sayong-o-sa. p. Preface. ISBN 978-0872960329.
- ↑ "Park Kyung-ni Prize First Winner". tojicf.org. September 27, 2012. Retrieved July 7, 2014.