The 23rd Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award Grand Prize Goes to Kim Mella's 'Je Kkum Kuseyo'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] "I want to never forget how great a joy and blessing it is to be able to greet today just like yesterday."

This was the acceptance speech of writer Kim Mella (39), who won the Grand Prize at the 23rd Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award. Honored for her novel "Please Dream My Dream," she said, "I hope the heart of those who have left worrying about those who remain, and the longing to see them again even in dreams, come together to create a good dream."

The winning work is a story about the afterlife, centered on a woman in her 30s who, after an extreme attempt, wakes up again but chokes to death while eating a chocolate bar. It presents the idea that death is not necessarily sad and heavy, with a lighthearted perspective.

Judges including novelist Oh Jung-hee commented, "It is astonishing that such a serious issue as death can be captured with clear and bright imagination," and added, "Rather than being bound by identity and causality, the desire to go to the dreams of those connected to oneself and bring them joy may be the most fundamental ethical dimension that Korean literature has reached."

Writer Kim Mella began her literary career in 2014 by winning the Ja-eum and Moeum New Writer Award. She has also received the Munji Literary Award and the Young Writers Award, among others. Following her first short story collection "At Least Twice" in 2020, she recently published her second collection, "Please Dream My Dream."

The Lee Hyo-seok Literary Award was established in 2000 to honor the literary achievements of Lee Hyo-seok (1907?1942). It is jointly hosted by the Lee Hyo-seok Literary Foundation and Maeil Business Newspaper.

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