Entertainment · Books & Arts · 2 hrs ago
Hwang Jung-eun Wins Inaugural Kim Hak-chul Literary Award
Hwang Jung-eun won the top prize at the first Kim Hak-chul Literary Award ceremony in Seoul.
Her novel, “A Problem-Free Day,” was chosen as the grand prize winner.
Jeon Chun-hwa and Choi Jin-young also received awards for “Welcome to Villa” and “Uluru-Kata Tjuta.”
The award honours Kim Hak-chul, a Korean independence activist and writer who lived from 1916 to 2001.
Readers funded the award and chose the winner: 640 supporters had voting rights after reading the three shortlisted books in August.
The winning novel explores shared human crises and the dangers that can threaten lives even on an apparently ordinary day.
The ceremony also honoured the memory of Korean volunteer fighters who died abroad, and Kim’s son urged later generations to uphold peace and shared prosperity.
Hwang Jung-eun won the inaugural Kim Hak-chul Literary Award grand prize for her work No Problem, One Day.
The award ceremony was held on Nov. 4 at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Seoul.
Welcome to Villa by Jeon Chun-hwa and Uluru-Kata Tjuta by Choi Jin-young received main prizes.
The award is run through voluntary contributions from readers, without a marketing budget or outside sponsoring organizations.
The prize honors Kim Hak-chul, an independence activist and writer who lived from 1916 to 2001.
- Who
- Hwang Jung-eun won the grand prize. Jeon Chun-hwa and Choi Jin-young also received main prizes.
- What
- The inaugural Kim Hak-chul Literary Award recognized three works.
- When
- The ceremony was held Nov. 4; the committee announced it on Nov. 6.
- Where
- National Assembly Members’ Office Building, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
- Why
- The award honors independence activist and writer Kim Hak-chul. The grand-prize work addresses threats facing humanity as a community sharing a common fate.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Readers spent the month reading the three nominated works and voting to select the grand-prize winner.
The inaugural award ceremony was held at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Seoul.
The award committee announced the ceremony and winners.
- Grand-prize winner
- Hwang Jung-eun
- Grand-prize work
- No Problem, One Day
- Main-prize works
- Welcome to Villa by Jeon Chun-hwa; Uluru-Kata Tjuta by Choi Jin-young
- Voters
- 640 readers: 100 monthly contributors and 540 book-funding participants
- Ceremony
- Nov. 4, National Assembly Members’ Office Building, Seoul
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What people are saying
I have been writing novels for 26 years, but this is the first award ceremony that has made my heart feel this warm.
This is not an award for Kim Hak-chul as an individual, but an award in the names of more than 100 comrades of the Korean Volunteer Army who were buried nameless in a foreign land.