Kim Nam-jo

Kim Nam-jo is a Korean poet.^[1]

Life

Kim Nam-jo was born on September 25, 1927, in Daegu, South Korea. She attended a girl school in Kyushu, Japan, and graduated from Seoul National University's College of Education in 1951 with a degree in Korean Language Education. Kim made her official literary debut in 1950 while still in college, publishing the poetry collection Constellations. Kim taught at Masan High School and Ewha Girls' High School. She became a professor at Sookmyung Women's University in 1954 and is now a Professor Emerita there. Kim served as chairperson of Korean Poet's Association and is currently a member of the Korean Academy of Arts.^[2]

Work

Kim Nam-jo's poetry features dynamic use of sensual language and vibrant imagery to portray the subtlety of human emotions. Kim's work follows in the tradition of Mo Yunsuk and Noh Cheonmyeong.^[3] Kim's main theme was love, but not simply the love shared by a man and woman, but also the love shared between a human and the "Absolute Being.^[4]

The poems in her first poetry collection, Life (Moksum), offer both an affirmation of humanity and a passion for the vitality of life. These poems also present a harmonious balance between Catholic piety and an ardent human voice. The poems in Kim's second collection, Naadeuui hyangyu, and third collection place an increasingly heightened emphasis on religious faith, focusing much attention on the exploration of Christian humanism and ethics. Her later poems discard passion for restraint and perseverance as part of an ongoing religious self-examination. In the collection Winter Ocean (Gyeoul Bada), the poet describes a world in which human emotions have attained absolute purity.^[5]

Works in Translation

• Selected Poems of Kim Namjo - English (Kim Namjo Siseon)
• Windtaufe - German (Baram serye)
• Песни сегодняшнего и завтрашнего дня - Russian (Oneul geurigo naeil-ui norae)
• Antologia poética - Spanish (Kim Namjo Siseonjib)
• Rain, Sky, Wind, Port - English (Codhill Press, 2014)

Works in Korean (Partial)

• Life (Moksum),
• Naadeuui hyangyu
• A Heart's Flag (Jeongnyeomui gi),
• Music of the Windswept Forest (Pungnimui eumak)
• For a While, and Forever (Jamsi, geurigo yeongwonhi)
• The Poems of Kim Namjo (Kim Namjo Sijip)
• The Complete Poems of Kim Namjo (Kim Namjo Sijeonjip)

Awards^[6]

• First Annual Association of Free Literature Prize (1958)
• May Literary Prize (1963)
• Prize for Poetry of Korean Poets Association (1974)
• The Culture and Arts Prize of the Republic of Korea (1988)
• Seoul City Cultural Award (1990)
• Samil Culture Award (1991)
• National Order of Merit (1993)
• Proud Artist Award - Contributions (2000)
• Manhae Prize (2007)

See also

• Korean literature
• List of Korean-language poets

References