Kim Hyesoon Poet Honored Among 12 'International Writers' by UK Royal Society of Literature

Association's 200th Anniversary... Writers Selected for Showing the Power of Literature Beyond Borders
Last Year's Awardees Include Poet Choi Don-mi and Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux

Poet Kim Hye-soon giving the opening lecture at the 2022 Seoul International Writers' Festival held on September 23 in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] Poet Kim Hye-sun (67) has been selected as an 'International Writer' by the Royal Society of Literature (RSL) in the United Kingdom.

On the 30th (local time), the Royal Society of Literature, headquartered in London, UK, announced this year's group of 12 international writers through its website.

Along with poet Kim, the list includes Anne Carson, Maryse Cond?, Chichi Dangarembga, Cornelia Funke, Mary Gaitskill, Faiza Gu?ne, Shadiya Hartman, Ogawa Yoko, Raja Shehadeh, Juan Gabriel V?squez, and Shamar Yazbek.

The International Writer award is given to authors who have demonstrated the power of literature to contribute and unite people beyond borders. It is an award program initiated as part of the 'RSL200' festival, which runs for five years to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the society's founding.

Born in Uljin, Gyeongbuk, poet Kim first gained recognition in the literary world in 1978 by winning the Dong-A Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest in the criticism category with her work on 'The Aesthetic Exchange between Poetry and Painting.'

In 2019, she became the first Asian woman to receive the Griffin Poetry Prize in Canada for her work 'Autobiography of Death,' and in May of this year, she was awarded the 32nd Samsung Ho-Am Prize by the Ho-Am Foundation.

The group of 12 writers, including Kim, will work together for the next five years alongside the first group of 12 awardees from last year.

Meanwhile, last year's international writer group included Korean poet Choi Don-mi and the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Annie Ernaux, as well as David Grossman, Jamaica Kincaid, Yan Lianke, Amin Maalouf, Alain Mabanckou, Javier Mar?as, Ng?g? wa Thiong'o, Claudia Rankine, Olga Tokarczuk, and Dubravka Ugre?i?.

Among last year's awardees, Lebanese-French writer Amin Maalouf also received the 11th Park Kyung-ni Literature Prize in September, selected by the Land Culture Foundation. The Park Kyung-ni Literature Prize honors the literary spirit of Park Kyung-ni and is awarded to writers who uphold the intrinsic value of literature and have influenced world literary history.

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