Gyeongsang National University Instructor Jeongeum Wins ‘Poetry and Prejudice’ New Literary Award

Focus on the Actual Local Background

Jeongeum Poet.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Jeong Hee-soon (Jeong Eum), a lecturer in the Department of Japanese Education at Gyeongsang National University College of Education and a PhD in Japanese Literature, made her debut as a poet by winning the New Literary Award in the spring 2022 issue of the quarterly magazine Poetry and Prejudice.

The debut works include three poems such as "Janggogae," which attracted attention for focusing on actual local settings.

Poet Kang Hee-geun, an emeritus professor at Gyeongsang National University who served as a judge, evaluated, "Jeong Eum’s poetry originates from a sense of place attachment. She uniquely sketches the joys and sorrows of people passing through a hill at the entrance of a rural basin, prompting readers to reflect on their hometown and homeland as archetypes of life."

Professor Kang also praised her as a rare poet recently, saying, "Her other two works show poetry as a gateway to the world connected to her professional field, which is reassuring."

Since 2019, Jeong Eum has been continuously producing results in socio-cultural research between Korea and Japan, including being selected as a Humanities and Social Science Research Professor by the National Research Foundation of Korea. In particular, her study on "Female Survivors of the Imjin War" has attracted attention not only from related clans but also from local broadcasters.

In her acceptance speech, Jeong Eum said, "Although I feel like I am carrying a heavy burden, I will strive to live a life always with poetry by ransacking the treasure trove built by my predecessors so that my steps can be light."

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