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Posted on July 23, 2020 By Robert Payne

Not to be confused with Han River (Korea).
In this Korean name, the family name is Han.

Han Kang
Han in 2024 during Nobel Week
Han in 2024 during Nobel Week
Born (1970-11-27) November 27, 1970 (age 54)
Gwangju, South Korea
Pen nameHan Kang-hyun
OccupationWriter
Alma materYonsei University
GenreFiction
Notable worksThe Vegetarian
Human Acts
Notable awardsYi Sang Literary Award
2005
International Booker Prize
2016
Prix Médicis étranger
2023
Nobel Prize in Literature
2024
Spouse
Hong Yong-hee
​
(divorced)​
Children1
ParentsHan Seung-won (father)
Signature
Korean name
Hangul
한강
Hanja
韓江
Revised RomanizationHan Gang
McCune–ReischauerHan Kang
Website
www.han-kang.net

Han Kang (Korean: 한강; born 27 November 1970[1]) is a South Korean writer. From 2007 to 2018, she taught creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts.[2] Han rose to international prominence for her novel The Vegetarian, which became the first Korean language novel to win the International Booker Prize for fiction in 2016. In 2024, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, a first for an Asian woman and for a Korean.

Early life and education

Han Kang, who according to her father is named after the Han River (Korean: 한강; RR: Hangang),[3] was born on 27 November 1970 in Gwangju, South Korea. Her family is noted for its literary background. Her father is novelist Han Seung-won. Her older brother, Han Dong-rim, is also a novelist, while her younger brother, Han Kang-in, is a novelist and cartoonist.[4]

At the age of nine, Han moved to Suyu-ri in Seoul, when her father quit his teaching job to become a full-time writer, four months before the Gwangju Uprising, a pro-democracy movement that ended in the military's massacre of students and civilians. She first learned about the massacre when she was 12, after discovering at home a secretly circulated memorial album of photographs taken by a German journalist, Jürgen Hinzpeter.[5] This discovery deeply influenced her view on humanity and her literary works.[1][6]

Han's father struggled to make ends meet with his writing career, which negatively impacted his family. Han later described her childhood as "too much for a little child"; however, being surrounded by books gave her comfort.[7] In 1988, she graduated from Poongmoon Girls' High School, now Poongmoon High School, where she had been a class president.[8][9] In 1993, Han graduated from Yonsei University, where she majored in Korean language and literature.[1] In 1998, she was enrolled at the University of Iowa International Writing Program.[1][10]

Career

After graduating from Yonsei University, Han briefly worked as a reporter for the monthly Saemteo magazine.[9] Han's literary career began the same year when five of her poems, including "Winter in Seoul", were featured in the Winter 1993 issue of the quarterly Literature and Society. She made her fiction debut the next year, under the name Han Kang-hyun, when her short story "The Scarlet Anchor" won the New Year's Literary Contest held by the Seoul Shinmun.[11][12] Her first short story collection, A Love of Yeosu, was published in 1995 and attracted attention for its precise and tightly narrated structure. After the publication, she quit her magazine job to solely focus on writing literature.[13]

In 2007, Han published a book, A Song to Sing Calmly (가만가만 부르는 노래), that was accompanied by a music album. At first she did not intend to sing, but Han Jeong-rim, a musician and music director, insisted that Han Kang record the songs herself.[14] The same year, she started working as a professor in the Department of Creative Writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts until 2018.

In her college years Han became obsessed with a line of poetry by the Korean modernist poet Yi Sang: "I believe that humans should be plants."[15] She understood Yi's line to imply a defensive stance against the violence of Korea's colonial history under Japanese occupation and took it as an inspiration to write her most successful work, The Vegetarian. The second part of the three-part novel, Mongolian Mark, won the Yi Sang Literary Award.[16] The rest of the series (The Vegetarian and Fire Tree) was delayed by contractual problems.[15]

The Vegetarian was Han's first novel translated into English, although she had already attracted worldwide attention by the time Deborah Smith translated it.[17][18] The translated work won the International Booker Prize 2016 for both Han and Smith. Han was the first Korean writer to be nominated for the award, and The Vegetarian was the first Korean language novel to win the International Booker Prize for fiction.[19][20][21][22] The Vegetarian was also chosen as one of "The 10 Best Books of 2016" by The New York Times Book Review.[23]

Han's novel Human Acts was released in January 2016 by Portobello Books.[24][25] Han received the Premio Malaparte for the Italian translation of Human Acts, Atti Umani, by Adelphi Edizioni, in Italy on 1 October 2017.[26][27] The English translation of the novel was shortlisted for the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award.[28]

Han's third novel, The White Book, was shortlisted for the 2018 International Booker Prize.[29] An autobiographical novel, it centers on the loss of her older sister, a baby who died two hours after her birth.[30]

Han's novel We Do Not Part was published in 2021. It tells the story of a writer researching the 1948–49 Jeju uprising and its impact on her friend's family. The French translation of the novel won the Prix Médicis Étranger in 2023.[31]

In 2023, Han's fourth full-length novel, Greek Lessons, was translated into English by Deborah Smith and E Yaewon.[32] The Atlantic magazine called it a book in which "words are both insufficient and too powerful to tame".[33]

In 2024, Han's short story “Heavy Snow” was published by the 18 November 2024 issue of The New Yorker.[34]

Personal life

Han was married to Hong Yong-hee, a literary critic and professor at Kyung Hee Cyber University.[35][36] In 2024, Han stated that they had been divorced for many years.[37][38] Han has a son, and together they ran a bookstore in Seoul from 2018 until November 2024, when she stepped down from its management.[39][40]

Han has said that she suffers from periodic migraines and credits them with "keeping her humble".[30]

Awards and recognition

Han won the Yi Sang Literary Award (2005) for Mongolian Mark (the second part of The Vegetarian),[16] the 25th Korean Novel Award[clarification needed] for her novella Baby Buddha in 1999, the 2000 Today's Young Artist Award from the Korean Ministry of Culture, and the 2010 Dongri Literary Award for The Wind is Blowing.[41]

In 2018, Han became the fifth writer chosen to contribute to the Future Library project. Katie Paterson, the project's organizer, said that Han had been chosen because she "expands our view of the world".[42] Han delivered the manuscript, Dear Son, My Beloved, in May 2019. In the handover ceremony, she dragged a white cloth through the forest and wrapped it around the manuscript. She explained this as a reference to Korean culture, in which a white cloth is used both for babies and for mourning gowns, describing the event as "like a wedding of my manuscript with this forest. Or a lullaby for a century-long sleep".[43]

Han was elected a Royal Society of Literature International Writer in 2023.[44][45]

The Vegetarian placed 49th in The New York Times's "100 Best Books of the 21st century" in July 2024.[46]

In 2024, Han was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature by the Swedish Academy for her "intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life".[47][48][49] This made her the first Korean writer and the first female Asian writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.[50][51]

Awards

– Ho-Am Prize in the Arts[54]
– Nobel Prize in Literature[47][48]
– Pony Chung Innovation Award[55]

Bibliography

Novels

  • —— (1995). 여수의 사랑 [Love in Yeosu] (in Korean). Moonji. ISBN 8932007500.
  • —— (1998). 검은 사슴 [Black Deer] (in Korean). Munhakdongne. ISBN 8982811338.
  • —— (2000). 내 여자의 열매 [My Woman's Fruits] (in Korean). Changbi. ISBN 8936436570.
  • —— (2002). 그대의 차가운 손 [Your Cold Hands] (in Korean). Moonji. ISBN 8932013047.
  • —— (2007). 채식주의자 [The Vegetarian] (in Korean). Changbi. ISBN 9788936433598.
  • —— (2010). 바람이 분다, 가라 [The Wind Blows, Go] (in Korean). Moonji. ISBN 9788932020006.
  • —— (2011). 희랍어 시간 [Greek Lessons] (in Korean). Munhakdongne. ISBN 9788954616515.
  • —— (2012). 노랑무늬영원 [Fire Salamander] (in Korean). Moonji. ISBN 9788932023533.
  • —— (2014). 소년이 온다 [A Boy Comes] (in Korean). Changbi. ISBN 9788936434120.
  • —— (2016). 흰 [White] (in Korean). Nanda. ISBN 9788954640718.
  • —— (2021). 작별하지 않는다 [We Do Not Part] (in Korean). Munhakdongne. ISBN 9788954682152.

In translation

Short fiction

Collections
  • 내 이름은 태양꽃 ("My name is Sunflower"), Munhakdongne, 2002, ISBN 978-89-8281-479-2.
  • 붉은 꽃 이야기 ("The red flower story"), Yolimwon, 2003, ISBN 978-89-7063-333-6.
  • 천둥 꼬마 선녀 번개 꼬마 선녀 ("Thunder little fairy, lightning little fairy"), Munhakdongne, 2007, ISBN 978-89-546-0279-2.
  • 눈물상자 ("Tear box"), Munhakdongne, 2008, ISBN 978-89-546-0581-6.
Stories
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected Notes
"The Middle Voice" 2023 Han Kang (6 February 2023). "The middle voice". The New Yorker. 98 (48). Translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith and Emily Yae Won: 50–58. The story is an excerpt from the novel Greek Lessons.
"Heavy Snow" 2024 Kang, Han (10 November 2024). "Heavy snow". The New Yorker. Translated from the Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris. The story is an excerpt from the novel We Do Not Part.

Poetry

  • 서랍에 저녁을 넣어 두었다 ("I put dinner in the drawer"), Moonji, 2013, ISBN 978-89-320-2463-9.

Essays

  • 사랑과, 사랑을 둘러싼 것들 ("Love and things surrounding love"), Yolimwon, 2003, ISBN 978-89-7063-369-5.
  • 가만가만 부르는 노래 ("A song to sing calmly"), Bichae, 2007, ISBN 978-89-92036-27-6.

Adaptations

Baby Buddha and The Vegetarian have been made into films. Lim Woo-Seong wrote and directed Vegetarian, which was released in 2009.[64] It was one of only 14 selections (out of 1,022 submissions) included in the World Narrative Competition of the North American Film Fest, and was noticed at the Busan International Film Festival.[65]

Lim also adapted Baby Buddha into a screenplay, in collaboration with Han, and directed the film version. Titled Scars, it was released in 2011.[65]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Han Kang". Literary Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 19 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2024. Ed. by Helen Rachel Cousins, Birmingham Newman University: The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.2.3: Korean Writing and Culture. Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University)
  2. ^ "Who is Han Kang, winner of 2024 Nobel literature prize?". The Korea Times. 11 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  3. ^ "한강, 전쟁으로 사람 죽는데 노벨상 축하잔치 안 된다고 해". 한겨례 (in Korean). 20 October 2024.
  4. ^ "딸이 쓴 문장에 질투심이 동했다"...아버지 한승원 작가의 고백. Maeil Business Newspaper (in Korean). 11 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  5. ^ [풀영상] 한강 작가 아버지 한승원 "전쟁 중에 무슨 잔치냐". 11 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Armitstead, Claire (5 February 2016). "Han Kang: 'Writing about a massacre was a struggle. I'm a person who feels pain when you throw meat on a fire'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  7. ^ Alter, Alexandra (2 February 2016). "'The Vegetarian,' a Surreal South Korean Novel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 21 June 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Chronology of major events in Han Kang's life". Yonhap News Agency. 10 October 2024.
  9. ^ a b "How those who knew Han Kang remember her". The Korea Times. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  10. ^ "HAN Kang". The International Writing Program. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  11. ^ 권윤희 (10 October 2024). 소설가 한강, 한국 최초 '노벨 문학상' 쾌거…서울신문서 등단. Seoul Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  12. ^ 필명 '한강현'에서 '한강의 기적'까지…역사적 순간 모아보니. Seoul Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  13. ^ Korean Writers: The Novelists, Minumsa Publishing p. 78
  14. ^ [한강] 가만가만, 꿈꾸듯 노래한 한강. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Humans As Plants". The Dong-A Ilbo. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Smith, Deborah; Shin, Sarah (March 2016). "Interview with Han Kang". The White Review. Archived from the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  17. ^ Khakpour, Porochista (2 February 2016). "The Vegetarian, by Han Kang". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  18. ^ Smith, Deborah (11 January 2018). "What We Talk About When We Talk About Translation". Los Angeles Review of Books. By most other standards, Chaesikjuuija (The Vegetarian's Korean title) was a success, with 20,000 copies sold (and in its 14th reprint) by the time my English translation came out, a full seven years after the Korean original. In that time, translations were published in China, Argentina, Poland, and Vietnam – highly unusual for a Korean book.
  19. ^ "Eyes that Pierce into the Hinterland of Life Novelist Han Kang". Korean Literature Now (in Korean). Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  20. ^ a b Alter, Alexandra (17 May 2016), "Han Kang Wins Man Booker International Prize for Fiction With 'The Vegetarian'", The New York Times, archived from the original on 17 May 2016, retrieved 17 May 2016
  21. ^ Fan, Jiayang (8 January 2018). "Han Kang and the Complexity of Translation". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2021. In 2016, "The Vegetarian" became the first Korean-language novel to win the Man Booker International Prize, which was awarded to both its author, Han Kang, and its translator, Deborah Smith.
  22. ^ "Han Kang's The Vegetarian wins Man Booker International Prize". BBC. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  23. ^ "The 10 Best Books of 2016". The New York Times. 1 December 2016. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  24. ^ "Human Acts". Portobello Books. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
  25. ^ McAloon, Jonathan (5 January 2016). "Human Acts by Han Kang, review: 'an emotional triumph'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  26. ^ a b Del Corona, Marco. "Premio Malaparte ad Han Kang". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 15 September 2017.
  27. ^ a b "Il Malaparte 2017 ad Han Kang". Premio Malaparte (in Italian). Capri. 12 September 2017. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  28. ^ "Awards: Graywolf Press Africa; International Dublin Literary". Shelf Awareness. 6 April 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  29. ^ "The Man Booker International Prize 2018 shortlist". The Booker Prizes. Archived from the original on 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  30. ^ a b Beckerman, Hannah (17 December 2017). "Han Kang: 'I was looking for answers to fundamental questions, then I realised so is every writer'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  31. ^ Creamer, Ella (10 October 2024). "South Korean author Han Kang wins the 2024 Nobel prize in literature". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  32. ^ Taylor, Catherine (10 October 2024). "Han Kang's Nobel win is testament to importance of small press publishing". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  33. ^ Chihaya, Sarah (4 May 2023). "A Novel in Which Language Hits Its Limit—And Keeps On Going". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  34. ^ Kang, Han (10 November 2024). ""Heavy Snow," by Han Kang". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  35. ^ Woo Jae-yeon (17 May 2016). "Man Booker Int'l Prize winner Han Kang says writing book was journey for truth". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  36. ^ Hwang Ji-yoon; Lee Tae-hoon; Kim Seo-young (11 October 2024). "Discovering Han Kang: Nobel laureate bridging history and humanity through literature". The Chosun Daily. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  37. ^ Kim Minjoo (15 October 2024). "Han Kang Divorces With Her Husband, A Literary Critic Who Changed His Mind On 'Dink'". Maeil Business Newspaper. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  38. ^ "한강, 안타까운 근황… 남편 언급에 "오래 전 이혼했다"". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 15 October 2024. [Newsis revisited articles about Han Kang's family of "literary figures", including her father, ex-husband, and brother, and subsequently requesting corrections to related articles. The publishing company stated, "Han Kang has conveyed that she divorced literary critic Hong Yong-hee a long time ago, and reporting him as her current husband not only misrepresents the situation but could also cause him significant harm. She has requested that this error be corrected."]
  39. ^ 노벨상 작가님이 직접 운영한다고?…'3평' 골목책방 앞은 인산인해. Maeil Business Newspaper (in Korean). 12 October 2024. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
  40. ^ 리포터, 김옥영 (28 November 2024). "[문화연예 플러스] 한강, 독립서점 책방 운영에서 손 떼". MBC 뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 29 November 2024.
  41. ^ a b c d e f g h "Biography". Han Kang. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  42. ^ Flood, Alison (31 August 2018). "Han Kang to bury next book for almost 100 years in Norwegian forest". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  43. ^ Flood, Alison (28 May 2019). "Han Kang hands over book to remain unseen until 2114". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  44. ^ "RSL International Writers: 2023 International Writers". Royal Society of Literature. 3 September 2023. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  45. ^ Spanoudi, Melina (30 November 2023). "RSL announces two new awards and appoints 12 authors to International Writers programme". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  46. ^ Staff, The New York Times Books (8 July 2024). "The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  47. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024". Nobel Media AB. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  48. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 – Press release". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  49. ^ Creamer, Ella (10 October 2024). "South Korean author Han Kang wins the 2024 Nobel prize in literature". The Guardian.
  50. ^ Lee, Dae Woong (11 October 2024). 소설가 한강, 노벨문학상 수상 쾌거… 아시아 여성 작가 최초 ["Novelist Han Kang Makes History as the First Asian Woman to Win the Nobel Prize in Literature"]. Christian Today (in Korean). Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  51. ^ "Han Kang becomes the first South Korean writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature". 91.9 FM WUOT, Your Public Radio Station. 10 October 2024.
  52. ^ "Novelist Han Kang is Korea's first to win famed French award". Korea.net. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 23 November 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  53. ^ "Le Prix Émile Guimet de littérature asiatique". Musée Guimet. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  54. ^ "Han Kang". The Ho-Am Foundation. 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  55. ^ Lee, Ho-jae (15 October 2024). "Han Kang to attend the Pony Chung Innovation Award ceremony". The Dona-A Ilbo. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  56. ^ Filgate, Michele (17 April 2023). "Why 'The Vegetarian' author Han Kang's newly translated novel is her gutsiest yet". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  57. ^ Novey, Idra (18 April 2023). "A Narrator Locked in Silence, Who Finds Solace in an Ancient Language". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 28 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  58. ^ "Book review of "Greek Lessons" by Han Kang". The Washington Post. 19 April 2023. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  59. ^ Cheuk, Leland (20 April 2023). "'Greek Lessons' is an intimate, vulnerable portrayal of two lonely people". NPR. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  60. ^ Woods, Cat (4 May 2023). "Han Kang's Greek Lessons". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  61. ^ "Human Acts". Portobello Books. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018.
  62. ^ Smith, Deborah. "On Translating Human Acts by Han Kang – Asymptote". www.asymptotejournal.com. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  63. ^ McAloon, Jonathan (5 January 2016). "Human Acts by Han Kang, review: 'an emotional triumph'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  64. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024: Biobibliography". The Nobel Prize. Swedish Academy. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  65. ^ a b "'Vegetarian' to Compete at Sundance 2010". HanCinema. Archived from the original on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Kang

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