Poet Jeong Seonghwan Publishes Second Poetry Collection 'In Front of Namcheon 2-dong Resident Autonomy Center'

'Poet Village Poet Series 206' Work Published in June

Busan City, Busan Cultural Foundation Arts Support Project

‘I was a small stone by the roadside. When thrown, it was anger; when piled up, it became a path reaching the sky.’ (From Jeong Seonghwan’s poem ‘Stone Tower’)

The poet’s stones were thus piled up to become a tower. This is part of Jeong Seonghwan’s new poem ‘Stone Tower.’ Through a mother’s prayers and the dreams each person places upon it, the stone tower grows and approaches as a signpost for someone.

Jeong Seonghwan, who debuted in 2017 with ‘Poetry Literature,’ recently released his second poetry collection titled ‘In Front of Namcheon 2-dong Resident Autonomy Center.’ It came out under the series name Poet Village Poetry Series 206.

Poetry Book Cover.

Jeong’s seemingly odd idea of boldly using the name of an administrative office as the title of his poetry collection was not unpleasant. Who would have known that the Korea Meteorological Administration’s cherry blossom blooming observation site for the Busan area was located there?

The poet’s inspiration was sparked by the fact that five cherry trees in front of the Namcheon 2-dong Resident Autonomy Center serve as the standard for blooming in the Busan area. He even added a clear explanation that the Korea Meteorological Administration considers the cherry blossom blooming period to begin when three or more flowers bloom on a single branch of the standard tree.

Jeong recited that he saw the flowers of the cherry trees in Seogwipo travel across the sea to the Namcheon 2-dong Resident Center in Busan in five days, and that there are flower-like people in long relationships who cannot be discarded.

In the poetry community, Jeong Seonghwan’s poems are praised for being concise yet warm. Sometimes reminiscent of Manhae (卍海), his simple style contains his own clear truths, which he throws like stones or stacks like stone towers.

Having lived his whole life as a salaried worker and never truly becoming a ‘head’ (leader), Jeong rather compares himself to a crooked ‘nail head’ that sticks out, crooked and bent, eventually being pulled out by a hammer. He asks anew if this is not the fate of our lives. His poetic language targets ‘reality’ entirely?wounds, tears, compassion, lies, loss.

Poet Jeong Seong-hwan.

Poet Woo Dae-sik said, “I read Jeong Seonghwan’s poetry collection in one sitting, reading inwardly to guess why the small everyday moments are beautiful, or whether without them there would be no narrative in this world.”

He also said, “It was a time to briefly shake off the sharp heart and the unknowingly pessimistic worldview that came from writing poetry for a long time.” He introduced that the entire poetry collection is filled with the simple beauty of everyday life that Jeong himself learned through poor waiting.

This poetry collection was published after being selected as an excellent art support recipient in this year’s Busan Cultural Foundation’s Busan Culture and Arts Support Project.

Jeong Seonghwan was born in Busan and began his literary activities after winning the Poetry Literature Newcomer Award in 2017. He has a poetry collection titled ‘The Flower Language Called Your Name.’ He is a member of the Korean Writers’ Association. After working in the public relations office of Kia Motors, he is currently employed at Yeongsan University.

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