Jeong Do-sang
| Born | August 5, 1959 |
|---|---|
| Language | Korean |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Citizenship | South Korean |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 정도상 |
|---|---|
Jeong Do-sang (born January 3, 1960) (Hangul: 정도상) is an award winning South Korean writer. [1]
Life
Jeong Do-sang was born on January 3, 1960 in Macheon-myeon, Haman-gun, Gyeongsanngnam-do, South Korea. His father died six years later. In 1971 he moved to Seoul and worked as a street peddler selling chewing gum, as well as working as a newspaper boy and taking on part-time labor. Jeong decided on a career as a writer in his junior year of high-school and entered the Department of German Language and Literature at Chungbuk National University in 1981. Jeong performed his compulsory military service and upon his return became a student activist who was imprisoned for his role in the Protest Against the Construction of the Peace Dam.[2]
Jeong began writing in 1987, during his imprisonment in Jeonju Prison and made his literary debut by winning the Chonnam National University May Literature Award for his short story "Our Winter."[3]
Jeong has worked as the South Korean chairman for the 6.15 National Writers association and is currently an editor of the Grand Dictionary of Korean Language, which comprises dialects from North and South Korea as well as collecting phrases that are in danger of leaving the language.[4]
Work
Jeong's early work centered on how individuals were shattered by powerful authorities in South Korea, but this expanded throughout the 2000s to include daily topics such as desire, nomadism, refugees, those driven to the margins of capitalist society and the small absurdities of daily life.[5]
The 2004 suicide of his son changed his focus, to works focused on adolescents although in 2009 Jeong's Wild Rose, a serialized novel, focused on the situation of female defectors from the North and the difficulties they face as the cross the land between the Tuman and Amur Rivers. The novel consists of seven linked stories sharing themes and restrictions.[6]
Works in Translation
- Spring at the Silsanga Temple
Works in Korean (Partial)
- Our Winter (1987)
- Faint Hope
- Wild Rose
- Spring at Silsangsa Prison (2004)
Awards[7]
- 2008 Yosan Literary Prize (for Wild Rose)
- 2000 Beautiful Writer's Award
- 2005 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Recognition
- 2003 Danjae Literary Award (for Faint Hope)
References
- ^ "Naver Search". naver.com. Naver. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ Jeong Do-sang (2013). "Jeong Do-sang". Spring at Silsangsa Temple. Seoul: Asia Publishers. pp. 121–125. ISBN 978-89-94006-87-1.
- ^ Jeong Do-sang (2013). "Jeong Do-sang". Spring at Silsangsa Temple. Seoul: Asia Publishers. pp. 121–125. ISBN 978-89-94006-87-1.
- ^ Jeong Do-sang (2013). "Jeong Do-sang". Spring at Silsangsa Temple. Seoul: Asia Publishers. pp. 121–125. ISBN 978-89-94006-87-1.
- ^ Jeong Do-sang (2013). "Jeong Do-sang". Spring at Silsangsa Temple. Seoul: Asia Publishers. pp. 121–125. ISBN 978-89-94006-87-1.
- ^ . Korean Focus http://books.google.co.kr/books?id=LqxFlgAZ9PIC&pg=RA2-PT186&lpg=RA2-PT186&dq=%22jeong+do-sang%22&source=bl&ots=qvKPhloQfj&sig=53ga1k3TVzb4AfA3WjPy5LBuB6o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=SH6BU6yjJoTFkwWA-oHAAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22jeong%20do-sang%22&f=false. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Naver Search". naver.com. Naver. Retrieved 25 May 2014.