Daesan Literary Award Novel Category: Choi Eun-young's 'Bright Night'

Novel - Choi Eun-young's 『Bright Night』
Poetry - Kim Eon's 『To the Blank Page』
Play - Cha Geun-ho's 『The Man Typing』
Translation - Choi Don-mi's 『Autobiography of Death』 (Jugeum-ui Jaseojeon)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] Choi Eun-young's Bright Night was selected for the novel category of the 29th Daesan Literary Awards, hosted by the Daesan Cultural Foundation. In the poetry category, Kim Eon's To the Blank Page received the honor, and in the play category, Cha Geun-ho's The Man Typing on a Typewriter was awarded. In the translation category, Autobiography of Death, translated by Choi Don-mi, won the prize.

The judges commented, "Kim Eon's To the Blank Page firmly conveyed a faint voice that transcends sadness and death under the self-awareness of 'writing' in Kim Eon's style." Regarding Choi Eun-young's Bright Night, they noted, "Through the life stories of four generations of women, the history of women excluded from the public sphere is grandly reenacted, laying the groundwork for writing a new history."

About Cha Geun-ho's The Man Typing on a Typewriter, they said, "It revealed the harms of oppression and power through everyday language and evoked the souls of the victims to readers and audiences." Autobiography of Death was praised for "vividly conveying the voice of death and the Korean mourning process from the original work to English-speaking readers through an excellent, highly readable translation."

In her acceptance speech, Kim Eon said, "I chose the title To the Blank Page with the desire to start from a blank page. I have published about seven poetry collections so far, and during that time, I encountered several points of limitation. In the past two years, I hit a point I called a limit. It wasn’t because I couldn’t write?poetry comes out if I write?but no matter what I did, it seemed no different from before. So, I wrote this work with the thought of letting everything go and starting anew."

Choi Eun-young said, "Coming to this (press conference) reminded me of my college days when I took the elevator in the Daesan Foundation building to apply for the Daesan University Literary Award. It was 10 years ago, but it feels like just yesterday. I felt touched thinking, 'Did I want to write novels since then?' Looking back, I realize there were many times I hesitated and faltered. However, now I have let go of the thought that I must write quickly. Before, I was very anxious about publishing a book, but writing this book was happy and enjoyable. I feel very grateful to this book. Just that alone gave me good memories. I will continue to be a writer who writes at my own pace, slowly."

Cha Geun-ho, who was nominated four times before finally winning the Daesan Literary Award this time, said, "Before receiving the award notification, I had a dream. I ate a peach, and I wondered what kind of dream it was, so I looked it up and found out it was a birth dream. I was surprised, but now I think it might have been a sign of winning. I don’t like fruit and was going to avoid eating it, but I forced myself to eat it, so maybe that’s why I received this award. (laughs) It made me think I need to write more fiercely in the future."

The Daesan Literary Awards is the largest comprehensive literary award in Korea, with a total prize money of 200 million won (50 million won per category). The award ceremony will be held on the 29th of this month at the Kyobo Convention Hall on the 23rd floor of the Kyobo Building in Gwanghwamun.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.