Jo Kyung-ran

Jo Kyung Ran
Born 1969 (age 45–46)
Language Korean
Nationality South Korean
Ethnicity Korean
Citizenship South Korean
Jo Kyung-ran
Hangul 조경란
Revised Romanization Jo Gyeongnan
McCune–Reischauer Cho Kyŏngnan
This is a Korean name; the family name is Jo.

Jo Kyung Ran (This is the author's preferred Romanization per LTI Korea[1]) is a South Korean writer.[2]

Life

Jo Kyung Ran was born in Seoul in 1969 [3] where she went on to study creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts,[4] but did not decide to become a writer until she turned 28.[5] Jo lived in Bonngcheon-dong for nearly 20 years in a small rooftop apartment which her father built for her.[6] She made her literary debut in 1996 with the short story, French Optical which won the Donga-Ilbo Prize.[7] Internationally famous, she is a speaker in demand for conferences, having appeared at “Beyond Borders: Translating and Publishing Korean Literature in the U.S.” in New York in 2009 [8] and more recently at The Seoul International Forum for Literature 2011.[9]

Work

Jo’s work is famous for taking trivial, mundane, and everyday occurrences and delicately describing them in subtle emotional tones.[10]

LTI Korea describes her contributions to Korean Literature:

Cho tends to dwell on the impressions (things) make, and with precision and sensitivity, describes their effect on the inner world of the protagonist. Often, she describes her characters minimally or presents them like objects lacking personality, thereby accentuating human alienation and difficulty of communication in the modern world. The author, nonetheless, suggests a possibility for meaningful human relationships by shedding light on those aspects of life that has not been corrupted by consumeristic or merely sexual interaction between people.[11]

Her work has won the Munhakdongne New Writer Award, the Today’s Young Artist Award, The Contemporary Literature Award (for the 2003 novella A Narrow Gate), and the Dong-in Literary Award(2008).[12] Her work has been translated into French, German, Hebrew and English.[13]

Works in English

Works in Korean (Partial)

Awards

External Links

An interview with the author (in English and Korean) can be found at KTLIT: Video bilingual interview of Jo Kyung Ran (“Tongue”) by Krys Lee (“Drifting House”)

References

  1. ↑ "Author Database". LTI Korea. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  2. ↑ "Jo Kyung Ran" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  3. ↑ University of Iowa International Writing Program: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/WRIT/WRITmain2004.html
  4. ↑ The Globalizing World and the Human Community, The Seoul International Forum of Literature 2011, p. 388
  5. ↑ Korean Literature in Translation: http://www.ktlit.com/?p=3732
  6. ↑ Cha Mi-ryeong,Koreana Magazine: http://www.koreana.or.kr/months/news_view.asp?b_idx=144&lang=rt&page_type=list
  7. ↑ University of Iowa International Writing Program: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iwp/WRIT/WRITmain2004.html
  8. ↑ List Magazine Whon Jaeheoun(Vol.6 Winter 2009 (P http://www.list.or.kr/articles/article_view.htm?Div1=9&Idx=301
  9. ↑ Korean Literature in Translation: http://www.ktlit.com/?p=3732
  10. ↑ The Globalizing World and the Human Community, The Seoul International Forum of Literature 2011, p. 388
  11. ↑ Source-attribution|"Jo, Kyung Ran" LTI Korea Datasheet available at LTI Korea Library or online at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  12. ↑ The Globalizing World and the Human Community, The Seoul International Forum of Literature 2011, p. 388
  13. ↑ The Globalizing World and the Human Community, The Seoul International Forum of Literature 2011, p. 388