"The Return of Buried Cries": "Swimming Pool Without Water" Wins Kwon Jeong-saeng Literary Award

Capturing the Tragedy of Foot-and-Mouth Disease and the Value of Life
Kim Sunjung's Young Adult Novel Chosen for the Award

The Kwon Jeong-saeng Children's Culture Foundation has selected "Swimming Pool Without Water," a young adult novel by writer Kim Sunjung, as the winner of the 17th Kwon Jeong-saeng Literary Award for 2026. The novel was praised for deeply embodying the values of respect for life and solidarity through the language of youth literature.

The 17th Kwon Jeong Saeng Literary Award Winner, Author Kim Sunjung [Photo by Andong City]

This year's Kwon Jeong-saeng Literary Award considered young adult literary works published over the past three years. Through a preliminary screening, ten books advanced to the final round, where intense discussions centered on literary completeness, the meaning of the work as youth literature, and whether it succeeds in carrying on the literary spirit of Kwon Jeong-saeng.

The judging panel consisted of Kim Seojung, Kim Jieun, and Sun Anna. The panel noted that, amid the recent trend of young adult literature addressing various layers of issues—such as everyday life, history, labor, and social realities—"Swimming Pool Without Water" goes beyond mere representation of reality. They highlighted how the novel "restores the voices of invisible lives and buried existences."

The award-winning work, "Swimming Pool Without Water," is a young adult novel that explores the nationwide foot-and-mouth disease crisis and the tragedy of mass culling in 2010 using a mystery format. Set against the backdrop of an old swimming pool at a remote high school, it grippingly portrays the process of young people tracking down truths that were buried long ago.

In particular, the novel confronts the suffering of animals sacrificed in a human-centered society, the silence of the community, and the issue of responsibility that society has chosen to ignore—all through the eyes of young people. While increasing reader immersion by employing the familiar device of web novel creation, the work is also praised for raising profound questions about the dignity of life and human ethics.

The judges commented, "'Swimming Pool Without Water' is a work that makes us reconsider the equality of all beings, large and small, and the meaning of being alive," adding, "It deeply inherits the spirit of respect for life and compassion for the weak, which Kwon Jeong-saeng sought to convey through literature throughout his life, and brings it into contemporary youth literature."

The 17th Kwon Jeong-saeng Literary Award ceremony will be held on May 17 at Kwon Jeong-saeng Fairy Tale Land, a space dedicated to honoring the literary spirit of Kwon Jeong-saeng. The event is expected to serve as an occasion for sharing how Kwon Jeong-saeng's literature continues and expands within today's children's and young adult literature.

Kim Youngdong, Chairman of the Kwon Jeong-saeng Children's Culture Foundation, stated, "The Kwon Jeong-saeng Literary Award will continue to discover works that deeply understand the lives of children and youth and beautifully express the values of life, peace, and solidarity through literature."

Since debuting in 2011, writer Kim Sunjung has established a consistent literary world by publishing children's stories and young adult novels such as "The Star Where Wild Boars Lived," "Today, Ho is Lalala," and "Our Class's Debt Relations." Kim has become a prominent figure in youth literature, winning the Grand Prize at the 14th Munhakdongne Children's Literature Award and the New Writer Award at the 8th Pureun Literature Award.

The recognition for "Swimming Pool Without Water" goes beyond mere literary achievement. The novel brings to light, through young perspectives, the long-concealed tragedies of life and the silence of the community, challenging today's readers to ask themselves, "What have we been turning away from in our lives?"

The fact that the values of life and compassion, which Kwon Jeong-saeng upheld throughout his literary career, are being revived in the language of a new generation makes this year's award a significant moment in the landscape of Korean young adult literature.

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