Han Kang

Han Kang is a South Korean writer best known for her novel The Vegetarian, which won both the Man Booker International Prize and the Yi Sang Literary Prize. A novelist, essayist, poet, and playwright, Han's works often explore themes of identity, conflict, and the traumas experienced by those living in South Korea's militarized society.

Born in Gwangju and raised there until the age of nine, Han spent most of her childhood in Seoul where she graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Korean Literature. In her early twenties, she wrote her first novel, The White Night, which was published in 1993. In 2000, her novel The Grass Roof was awarded the Yi Sang Literary Prize, for which she also won a special commendation award in 2005. In 2006, she published the novel The Vegetarian, a dark psychological fiction, which explores the violent costs of rejecting social norms.

The Vegetarian takes the form of an epistolary novel, with much of the narrative told through journal entries and letters written by the female protagonist. In it, the protagonist, a non-confrontational and sociable woman from a rural area, experiences a violent shift in her subconscious that compels her to become a vegetarian and abstain from meat. This new trait creates a rift between her and her family, particularly her husband. The novel, which is divided into three sections, follows the protagonist's experience and explores the consequences that stem from her decision to reject social conventions.

The Vegetarian received both critical acclaim and commercial success, winning the Man Booker International Prize in 2016. This marked the first time a Korean writer had won the prestigious award. The novel also received several other literary accolades, including the South Korean literary award, the Dong-in Literary Award.

Han's other works of fiction include the novel Human Acts (20140, the short story collection The Irish Book of Departures and Arrivals (2003), and the novella Human Decency (2005). Her writing often tackles complex issues, such as trauma, alienation, and reconciliation, and examines the way individuals perceive and respond to conflict. Her novels, for example, often paint a vivid portrait of a society in which individuals feel a lack of control due to external socioeconomic forces. For instance, Human Acts follows the perspectives of three people during the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, a violent event in which the military suppressed democratic protesters.

Han Kang has also written several essay collections, speeches, and non-fiction books. Her essay collections include Intangible (2008) and Loving the World in Troublesome Times (2013). Her first non-fiction book, The Pedestrian Revolution: Gender and the Modern Family in South Korea, was published in 2018 and highlights the importance of re-examining gender roles within South Korean society.

Han has written several collections of poetry, such as Things We Don't Know (1995) and The Seven Chambered Heart (2001). These works explore notions of identity and belonging, with many poems reflecting the Indian concept of “neti neti” (“not this, not that”), a Sanskrit phrase to describe the indescribable nature of the divine.

In 2020, Han collaborated on a short story with South Korean writer Kim Young-ha titled ‘The Bird’. It follows a woman who begins to feel a sudden, inexplicable connection to an oddly-shaped cloud in the sky. The story explores human loneliness and the power of imagination to bring beauty to our daily lives.

Throughout her career, Han has garnered international recognition for her work, and her works have been translated into more than twenty languages. Her works have been praised for their innovative use of narrative technique and for their exploration of intense and emotive themes. As such, her works have pushed the boundaries of literature, making her one of the most compelling authors of modern Korean literature.