Lee Jenny

Lee Jeni (born 1972) is a South Korean poet. She was born in Busan. She began her literary career by publishing Peru in 2008 through the Kyunghyang Daily News New Writer’s Award. She has published two poetry collections, and has won the Pyeon-un Literature Award in 2011 as well as the Kim Hyeon Prize in 2016. Jo Jaeryong, a literary critic, has praised her as a ‘master of rhythm that is bringing us to the frontlines of poetry’.

Life

Lee Jeni (born 1972) is a South Korean poet. She was born in Busan. She dreamed of becoming a writer since the 4th grade. She was admitted to Kyungnam University, and from when she was twenty-two, she submitted her works to new writers contests for fiction, but constantly got rejected. She would find a job when she ran out of money, and once she had enough saved, she would quit and focus on writing. This continued until in 2008, she won the Kyunghyang Daily News New Writer’s Award for her collection of poetry. After debut, she received the attention of the literary community for her unique style of writing. She has not published a novel yet, but Lee Jeni is still currently writing a novel along with poetry, and she has expressed that she would like to publish a novel when the opportunity arises. In 2010 she published Amado Africa (아마도 아프리카 Maybe Africa), and in 2014 she published Waenyahamyeon urineun urireul moreugo (왜냐하면 우리는 우리를 모르고 Because we don’t know ourselves). She was awarded the Pyeon-un Literature Award in 2011, and won the Kimhyeon Munhakpae in 2016. She is a member of the experimental text collective ‘Ru’.

Writing

Lee Jeni’s poetry contains a lot of repetition, as if she is incanting a spell. Repetition is used in poetry often as a device to amplify emotional effects. In Lee Jeni’s poetry, repetition of phrases strengthens lyrical rhythm. However, in a traditional sense, it is difficult to state that her works are lyrical poetry. This is because she is also very skilled at simulating the reader’s thoughts by precisely organizing conceptual language.

Early on, literary critics expressed the Lee Jeni’s poetry do ‘wordplay’ by laying out similar words. However, for her repetition is only a device that is used to freely imagine. Repeating a word is an evidence that shows the poet’s critical mind that attempts to stay between language and the object being described without directly being in contact with the object. By having such careful and cautious attitude, Lee Jeni carries out a deep thinking process on the true nature of an object.

Also, by focusing on “the words of an orphan trapped in a forest of circles”, Lee Jeni restores “the world of things that wander”. Her poetry often features children that enjoy playing with meaningless symbols. When considering their existence, it can be said that the phrases that are repeated towards meaninglessness in Lee Jeni’s poetry reflect the poet’s own efforts of attempting to approach the unconscious. With such methods, Lee Jeni describes how the language of the lonely spirals out, and brings such image to the literary stage. In Korea, not only is Lee Jeni acknowledged for her ability to make unique rhythms through repetition, but is also praised as a skilled poet who can “make poems by deferring meaning itself.”

Works

• Amado Africa (아마도 아프리카 Maybe Africa), Changbi, 2010.
• Waenyahamyeon urineun urireul moreugo (왜냐하면 우리는 우리를 모르고 Because we don’t know ourselves), Moonji Publishing, 2014.

Awards

• 2011 Pyeon-un Literature Award
• 2016 Kim Hyeon Prize

Further reading

• Lee Chan, “After the ‘Future Party’ and the ‘Political Poetry’, the Aporia of the Poetry of Our Time”, Literature and Practice, 2011.
• Jang Eunseok, “The Obelisk Made By Liquefied Emotions”, Sijak, 2011.