Gokseong-gun Announces Call for Jo Tae-il Literary Award Submissions

Published 07 May.2024 21:57(KST)

(Jukhyung Jo Tae-il Poet Memorial Association) - Hosted by Gokseong-gun

Until June 30, Prize Money 20 Million Won

Gokseong-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that the 6th Jo Tae-il Literary Award, which honors the life and poetic world of poet Jo Tae-il from Gokseong and discovers poets who have shown new achievements in Korean literature, is looking for its sixth recipient.

The 6th Jo Tae-il Literary Award, hosted by the Jo Tae-il Poet Memorial Project Association (Chairman Park Seok-mu) and Gokseong-gun (Governor Lee Sang-cheol), and sponsored by the Korean Writers' Association, Gwangju Jeonnam Writers' Association, Changbi, and Literature, will accept submissions from May 1 to June 30 for two months.

[Image courtesy of Gokseong-gun]

Poetry collections published within the last two years (after June 1, 2022) can be submitted by the poet themselves or through recommendations by the selection committee. The award ceremony will be held in October at the Jo Tae-il Poetry Literature Memorial Hall in Gokseong during the 25th anniversary literary festival of poet Jo Tae-il, with a prize of 20 million KRW.

The Jo Tae-il Literary Award was established in 2019 to honor Jo Tae-il (1941?1999), known as a resistance poet who confronted harsh realities with his whole body and a pure poet who beautifully sang of nature, also known by his pen name Jukhyung (竹兄).

This year is especially notable as it marks the 25th anniversary of poet Jo Tae-il’s passing.

The magazine (Poet), which Jo founded in 1969 but was shut down after one year due to government pressure, will be revived, and various projects commemorating the 25th anniversary, such as the publication of a memorial anthology and a travelogue of Gageodo Island, will be promoted.

A Gokseong-gun official said, “Through this literary award, we expect to shed light on poet Jo Tae-il, who left a clear mark in our poetic history and led the way for freedom of expression and democratization, and to discover poets who open new horizons in poetry and achieve poetic accomplishments, contributing to the development of Korean literature.”