[Chaekdam] "Not a Single Page Was Wasted in 13 Months and 27 Days"

Photo by Park Chanmok

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] "Because of you, I know myself / Because of me, I lose you" - ‘Not just choked up but overwhelmed’

Poet Won Taeyeon’s poems need no explanation. They are neither obscure nor convoluted. They reach the heart in a straight line, uncovering memories buried beneath layers of everyday dust. Then, they quickly spread into various emotions, moistening the heart. For some, it is the pain of parting; for others, the thrill of love; and for others still, a heavy longing in the chest.

Won Taeyeon, who gained great attention with his 1992 poetry collection You Sometimes Think of Me, I Sometimes Think of Other Things, has returned to poetry after exploring essays, songwriting, novels, and screenplays. Unlike his previous work There Is No One Like That, which combined new poems with earlier ones, this time he published a completely new set of 85 poems titled You Got a Call (Banknamu Publishing). We met poet Won Taeyeon, who vowed "not to waste a single page" and sings poetry once again.

- How did this poetry collection come about?

▲ Actually, in my previous work There Is No One Like That, only 30 out of 100 poems were new. The other 70 were old poems. Normally, I would have thought it cowardly and not published it, but a fan I’ve known for over 30 years said, "If you’re a true fan, even just new greetings would be so welcome, so 30 poems is nothing." Since it was my first poetry collection in over 20 years, I thought no one would be waiting, but the response was very touching. One review that stood out said, "I was worried it might be ruined, but it was so good." I called my longtime fans and promised not to waste a single page, and that’s how this collection was written. It took 13 months and 27 days.

Poet Won Tae-yeon's attic studio. While working, he hit his head, leaving a mark pierced through the ceiling plywood.

- Won Taeyeon’s poems are easy to read without needing interpretation. Was the writing process like that too?

▲ Honestly, I thought I was going to die. I cursed myself while writing. The poems appeared clearly in my mind, and I just had to write them, but when I actually wrote them down, they didn’t have the same flavor. It was maddening. The last part of the poem ‘Four Seasons’ took seven months to write and was eventually discarded. One day, I got so angry I jumped up and punched through the ceiling plywood. Tears flowed. At that moment, I thought, ‘At least I’m trying hard,’ and selected seventeen poems I had written.

- There is mention of not sleeping even for a minute over 48 hours. Was this also due to the pain of creation?

▲ Given my personality, I was very worried about what would happen if I couldn’t publish this collection. Once, I didn’t sleep for two days because of worry. The sky looked yellow and my mind was spinning, and while brushing my teeth, the phrase "Tears do not cry" came to me unconsciously. When I’m not in my right mind, edgy expressions come out, so from then on, I didn’t sleep two days a week for a week.

A laptop with a broken 'ㅌ' key. Photo by Won Taeyeon

- I understand you hardly went out during the writing process. Was it the same this time?

▲ Yes. The ‘ㅌ’ key on my laptop was broken and wouldn’t press. The AS center was 10 minutes away, but I didn’t want to go out, so I worked without fixing it. If you look at the poems, you’ll notice there are no words containing ‘ㅌ’ (laughs).

- The poem ‘Withdrawal Symptoms’ appears three times in the collection.

▲ I wanted to give a kind of gift to those who like my sensibility. No matter how good love poems are, reading them continuously can be tiring. At first glance, the ‘Withdrawal Symptoms’ poems look the same. They refresh your mind with a ‘Hey, I think I’ve seen this before, but what’s different?’ feeling. For some poems, I even deliberately shuffled the order.

- The collection includes the poem that became the lyrics for ‘Life is Beautiful’ sung by ‘Tbaroti’ Kim Hojoong.

▲ Originally, I was offered to direct the movie Life is Beautiful: Vita Dolce. I also met Kim Hojoong, who was a really nice person. But due to circumstances, I declined. They asked me to appear, and I was supposed to be a guest on Bocelli’s stage in the movie’s ending scene, but it was canceled. Instead, the movie ended with a singing scene, so the composer who went with me wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics.

- When do you feel the most rewarding moments in your creative work?

▲ When someone gives good feedback on my work. Honestly, I live and die by my pride. Even if I’m curious, I pretend not to be to look cool (laughs).

- At the end of the book, you wrote, "On October 15, 2022, exactly at 3 PM, suddenly why do tears come, I think I know why."

▲ That was truly my honest feeling at the time. While I can’t say this collection is my best, I can confidently say I did my best.

▷Who is Won Taeyeon?

His first poetry collection, You Sometimes Think of Me, I Sometimes Think of Other Things, published when he was 22, sold over 1.5 million copies and made him a popular poet instantly. Since then, he has consistently written in fields that move people’s hearts, including songwriting, essays, novels, screenplays, and film directing. His published books include Draw a Circle with Your Fingertips, As Big as You Can, Minus That Much I Love You, Won Taeyeon Allergy, and I Love You Even When You Don’t Think of Me. Songs he wrote include Taeyeon’s ‘Shh’, Baek Ji-young’s ‘That Woman’, and S#arp’s ‘My Lips Are Like Warm Coffee’.

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