Han Kang facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Han Kang
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Han in 2024 during Nobel Week
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| Born | November 27, 1970 Gwangju, South Korea |
| Pen name | Han Kang-hyun |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Alma mater | Yonsei University |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Notable works | The Vegetarian Human Acts |
| Notable awards | Yi Sang Literary Award 2005 International Booker Prize 2016 Prix Médicis étranger 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 |
| Spouse |
Hong Yong-hee
(divorced) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parents | Han Seung-won (father) |
| Signature | |
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| Korean name | |
| Hangul |
한강
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| Hanja |
韓江
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| Revised Romanization | Han Gang |
| McCune–Reischauer | Han Kang |
Han Kang (Hangul: 한강; born 27 November 1970) is a famous writer from South Korea. From 2007 to 2018, she taught creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Han became well-known around the world for her novel The Vegetarian. This book was the first Korean language novel to win the International Booker Prize for fiction in 2016. In 2024, she was given the Nobel Prize in Literature. This was a very special award, as she was the first Asian woman and the first Korean to win it.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Han Kang was born on 27 November 1970 in Gwangju, South Korea. Her father named her after the Han River (Hangul: 한강; RR: Hangang). Her family is known for loving books and writing. Her father, Han Seung-won, is a novelist. Her older brother, Han Dong-rim, and younger brother, Han Kang-in, are also writers.
When she was nine, Han moved to Suyu-ri in Seoul. This happened when her father decided to become a full-time writer. A few months later, the Gwangju Uprising took place. This was a movement where people wanted more democracy, but it ended sadly with soldiers hurting students and citizens.
Han learned about this event when she was 12. She found a secret photo album at home. It had pictures taken by a German journalist, Jürgen Hinzpeter. Seeing these photos deeply changed how she saw people and influenced her writing.
Her father sometimes found it hard to earn enough money as a writer. This made things tough for the family. Han later said her childhood was "too much for a little child." But being surrounded by books always made her feel better. In 1988, she finished Poongmoon Girls' High School. She was even a class president there. In 1993, Han graduated from Yonsei University. She studied Korean language and literature. In 1998, she spent three months at the University of Iowa International Writing Program. This program helps writers from different countries.
Writing Career
After finishing university, Han briefly worked as a reporter for a magazine called Saemteo. Her writing career began in 1993. Five of her poems, including "Winter in Seoul," were published in a literary magazine. She started writing fiction the next year. Her short story "The Scarlet Anchor" won a New Year's Literary Contest.
Her first collection of short stories, A Love of Yeosu, came out in 1995. People noticed how well-structured and precise her stories were. After this book, she left her magazine job to focus only on writing.
In 2007, Han published a book called A Song to Sing Calmly (Hangul: 가만가만 부르는 노래). It came with a music album. At first, she didn't plan to sing the songs herself. But a musician named Han Jeong-rim convinced her to record them. In the same year, she began teaching creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. She taught there until 2018.
During her college years, Han was very interested in a line of poetry by Yi Sang. The line was: "I believe that humans should be plants." She thought this line meant people should protect themselves from violence. This idea inspired her to write her most famous book, The Vegetarian. The second part of this novel, called Mongolian Mark, won the Yi Sang Literary Award.
The Vegetarian was the first of Han's novels to be translated into English. Even before this translation, she was getting attention worldwide. The English version, translated by Deborah Smith, won the International Booker Prize 2016. Both Han and Smith shared the award. Han was the first Korean writer to be nominated for this prize. The Vegetarian was also the first Korean language novel to win the International Booker Prize for fiction. The New York Times Book Review also chose The Vegetarian as one of "The 10 Best Books of 2016."
Han's novel Human Acts was released in English in January 2016. Han received the Premio Malaparte award in Italy for the Italian translation of Human Acts. The English translation of Human Acts was also a finalist for the 2018 International Dublin Literary Award.
Her third novel, The White Book, was a finalist for the 2018 International Booker Prize. This book is about her own life. It focuses on the sad loss of her older sister, who was a baby and died just two hours after being born.
Han's novel We Do Not Part was published in 2021. It tells the story of a writer who researches the 1948–49 Jeju uprising. This event had a big impact on her friend's family. The French translation of this novel won the Prix Médicis Étranger in 2023.
In 2023, Han's fourth full-length novel, Greek Lessons, was translated into English. The Atlantic magazine said it was a book where "words are both insufficient and too powerful to tame." In 2024, Han's short story “Heavy Snow” was published in The New Yorker magazine.
Personal Life
Han Kang was married to Hong Yong-hee, who is a literary critic and professor. In 2024, Han shared that they had been divorced for many years. Han has a son. Together, they ran a bookstore in Seoul from 2018 until November 2024.
Han has mentioned that she sometimes gets very bad headaches called migraines. She believes these headaches help her stay "humble."
Awards and Recognition
Han has won many awards for her writing. She received the Yi Sang Literary Award in 2005 for Mongolian Mark. This was part of her novel The Vegetarian. In 1999, she won the 25th Korean Novel Award for her novella Baby Buddha. She also received the 2000 Today's Young Artist Award from the Korean Ministry of Culture. In 2010, she won the Dongri Literary Award for The Wind is Blowing.
In 2018, Han was chosen to be the fifth writer for the Future Library project. This project collects books that will not be read until 2114. Katie Paterson, who started the project, said Han was chosen because she "expands our view of the world." Han gave her manuscript, Dear Son, My Beloved, in May 2019. During the ceremony, she dragged a white cloth through the forest and wrapped it around her manuscript. She explained that this was a nod to Korean culture. In Korea, white cloth is used for both babies and for clothes worn during mourning. She described the event as "like a wedding of my manuscript with this forest. Or a lullaby for a century-long sleep."
Han was also chosen as an International Writer by the Royal Society of Literature in 2023. In July 2024, The Vegetarian was ranked 49th in The New York Times list of "100 Best Books of the 21st century."
In 2024, Han was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature by the Swedish Academy. They praised her for her "intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life." This made her the first Korean writer and the first female Asian writer to win this very important award.
Awards
- 1999 – Korean Novel Award for Baby Buddha
- 2000 – Korean Ministry of Culture Today's Young Artist Award – Literature Section
- 2005 – Yi Sang Literary Award for Mongolian Mark
- 2010 – Dongri Literary Award for The Wind is Blowing
- 2014 – Manhae Literary Award for Human Acts
- 2015 – Hwang Sun-won Literary Award for While One Snowflake Melts
- 2016 – International Booker Prize for The Vegetarian
- 2017 – Malaparte Prize for Human Acts
- 2018 – Kim Yu-jeong Literary Award for Farewell
- 2019 – San Clemente Literary Prize for The Vegetarian
- 2023 – Prix Médicis étranger for We Do Not Part
- 2024 – Ho-Am Prize in the Arts
- 2024 – Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature for We Do Not Part
- 2024 – Nobel Prize in Literature
- 2024 – Pony Chung Innovation Award
See also
In Spanish: Han Kang para niños
- Korean literature
- List of Korean novelists
- List of Korean-language poets
- List of Korean women writers
- List of Nobel laureates in Literature
