Poet Sogangseok and Novelist Kim Seonju Receive Hwang Sunwon Literary Award

Poet So Gang-seok and novelist Kim Seon-ju have been selected as the winners of the 13th Hwang Sun-won Literary Award, the Hwang Sun-won Memorial Association announced on the 22nd.

Poet So Gang-seok will receive the Hwang Sun-won Poet Award, and novelist Kim Seon-ju will receive the Hwang Sun-won Writer Award. The awarded works are So Gang-seok’s poetry collection The Season Called You Came to Me (Saemteo) and Kim Seon-ju’s novel Hamsung (Dohwa).

Since 2020, the grand prize of the Hwang Sun-won Yangpyeong Literary Award was given to poet Park Mun-jae, and the excellence awards were given to essayist Kim Gi-sang and poet So Young-min. The awarded works include Park Mun-jae’s poetry collection Winter Confession (Sein Publishing), among others.

From the left, poet So Gang-seok, novelist Kim Seon-ju, poet Park Moon-jae [Photo by Hwang Sun-won Memorial Association]

The Hwang Sun-won Literary Award was established to honor the literary spirit of Hwang Sun-won (1915?2000), the author of Sonagi. It is awarded as part of the Hwang Sun-won Literary Festival, jointly hosted by Yangpyeong County and Kyung Hee University.

Poet So Gang-seok said, “As a pastor, I wrote each poem with a heart full of love and longing for God, people, and nature,” adding, “I will engrave the spirit of the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award in my heart and strive to write poems like seeds that open a world full of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace.”

Novelist Kim Seon-ju expressed, “Since I was a pure literary girl, I was deeply immersed in novels while reading the meticulous exploration of humanity and the lyrical and beautiful works of Mr. Hwang Sun-won. It is truly an honor to receive an award bearing his name,” and added, “I sincerely thank the judges who evaluated my novel Hamsung.”

Poet Park Mun-jae said, “Even today, at dusk, I will light a small lamp and tirelessly and diligently climb the cliff of poetry,” and added, “I want to share this joy with my beloved neighbors and members of the Yangpyeong Writers’ Association.”

The Hwang Sun-won Literary Award ceremony will be held on September 6 at 2 p.m. at Sonagi Village in Hwang Sun-won Literary Village, Seojong-myeon, Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province.

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