Jogeongran's Short Story 'Illerdugi', Winner of the 47th Yi Sang Literary Award Grand Prize

On the 25th, Munhak Sasangsa announced that Jo Kyung-ran's short story "Illerdugi" was selected as the grand prize winner of the 47th Yi Sang Literary Award.

The judging was conducted on 246 medium and short stories published in major Korean literary magazines from January to December of last year. Munhak Sasangsa revealed that 15 works were finally shortlisted for the final round, from which the grand prize and five excellence awards were selected. The five excellence award winners are Kim Ki-tae's "Pax Atomica," Park Min-jung's "The Love of the Entire School," Park Sol-moe's "Two of Us," Sung Hye-ryeong's "Caregiver," and Choi Mi-rae's "The Woman Wearing a Jar on Her Head."

The grand prize winner and the five excellence award winners will be included in the 47th Yi Sang Literary Award anthology to be published in April.

Novelist Jo Kyung-ran [Photo provided by Munhak Sasangsa, (c) Han Jung-gyu]

The judging panel commented on "Illerdugi," saying, "The story unfolds the lives of neighbors in a suburban neighborhood embracing and clashing with each other as a backdrop, highlighting the author's meticulous attention to the protagonist's inner consciousness changes hidden beneath the harsh reality." They added, "The protagonist, who talks as if dreaming of revenge by buying a black mask and searching for someone, ultimately brings out and saves the shabby, scarred self from childhood hidden within, which well demonstrates the novelistic achievement of this work." They further noted, "The finely polished concise sentences and detailed inner descriptions add stylistic strength to the narrative completeness of this novel," explaining the reasons for selecting it as the grand prize winner.

The final judging panel included literary critic Kwon Young-min, novelist Koo Hyo-seo, literary critic Kim Jong-wook, novelist Yoon Dae-nyeong, and novelist Jeon Kyung-rin.

Jo Kyung-ran mentioned in her acceptance speech, referring to her diary, "I have persistently written short stories that feel like they are read only by myself," and expressed joy, saying, "I feel happy that I was supported by someone, not just writing and reading the stories alone."

Jo Kyung-ran was born in 1969 in Seoul and graduated from the Creative Writing Department at Seoul Institute of the Arts. She began her literary career when her short story "Bulranseu Angyeongwon" (French Optical Shop) won the Dong-A Ilbo New Writer's Contest in 1996. She has published short story collections such as "Bulranseu Angyeongwon," "My Purple Sofa," "Looking for the Elephant," "The Ladle Story," "I Bought a Balloon," "Sunday Philosophy," "From the House That Will Drift Away Someday," and "Family Circumstances," as well as novels including "The Time to Bake Bread," "The Origin of the Family," "Tongue," and "Pufferfish." She has received awards such as the Munhakdongne Writer Award, Hyundai Literary Award, Today's Young Artist Award, and Dongin Literary Award.

The grand prize carries a cash award of 50 million won, and each excellence award winner receives 5 million won for republication fees.

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