Son Bomi's "Playing with Fire" Wins the Yi Sang Literary Award Grand Prize

The novel "Buljangnan" by Son Bomi has been selected as the grand prize winner of the 45th Lee Sang Literary Award in 2022, organized by Munhak Sasang Co., Ltd.

"Buljangnan" is a coming-of-age novel that meticulously depicts the emotional instability and internal conflicts experienced by a girl entering adolescence due to her parents' divorce, within the narrative framework of a rite of passage. Son Bomi is an established writer who debuted in 2009. She has published the novel "Dear Ralph Lauren," the novella "The God of Coincidence," and short story collections such as "Lindy Hop for Them" and "Elegant Nights and Cats," earning high praise for her exceptional literary imagination.

In her acceptance speech, Son Bomi said, "When I was in high school, I read 'The Sticky Fly' by novelist Eun Hee-kyung in 'Hyundae Munhak' and was captivated by that story for a while. Later, I learned that this work won the Lee Sang Literary Award under the title 'The Wife's Box.' About twenty years ago, when I never thought of becoming a novelist nor believed I could, it is inevitably joyful that a novel that deeply moved my naive heart and my 'Buljangnan' are listed together as award-winning works."

The judges praised the work, saying, "It excels in sophisticated language expression, delicate inner depiction, and the technique of handling restrained emotions and the resulting narrative tension." They added, "Through the portrayal of adolescent wounds and recklessness, conflicts and memories, shame and humiliation, loneliness and passion, and the desire to break taboos, it impressively reflects on the origins and desires of writing." Furthermore, they commented, "It is engaging and readable at once, but reading it carefully again from the beginning gives chills," and praised it as "nothing less than a herald of a 'new birth as a writer.'"

Other outstanding works selected include ▲ Kanghwa Gil's "Hallway," ▲ Baek Surin's "Very Bright Days," ▲ Seo Ije's "Flow Crossing Walls and Lines," ▲ Yeom Seungsuk's "Leap of Faith," ▲ Lee Jangwook's "Diving Bell and Poison," and ▲ Choi Eunmi's "Farewell."

The grand prize carries a cash award of 50 million won, and each outstanding work receives a reprint fee of 5 million won. The "45th Lee Sang Literary Award Anthology" is scheduled to be published within January.

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