Kwak Jae-gu

This is a Korean name; the family name is Kwak.
Kwak Jae-gu
Born 1954 (age 6162)
Nationality South Korean
Kwak Jae-gu
Hangul 곽재구

Kwak Jae-gu is a South Korean modern poet.[1]

Life

Kwak Jaegu was born in Gwangju, Jeollanam-do in 1954.[2] He graduated from Chonnam National University. After his poem "Sapyeongyeogeseo" (At Sapyeong Station) won a literary contest sponsored by the JoongAng Ilbo in 1981, Kwak became active in the literary circle that produced the magazine May Poetry (Owol si).[3] Kwak is currently a professor at Sunchon National University, where he works with Korean author Kim Won-il.[4]

Work

Kwak Jaegu’s poetic legacy derives primarily from the distinctly Korean aesthetic of his depictions of love and loneliness. The development evident from Kwak's first collection of poems, At Sapyeong Station (Sapyeongyeogeseo), to his third collection, Korean Lovers (Hangugui yeonindeul), demonstrates a transition from an abstract passion for historical and social issues to a relationship with social reality seen through the prism of unabstracted love. This poetic evolution can also be seen as an ever-deepening search for a true sense of self.[5]

Beginning with his fourth collection of poems, Seoul senoya, Kwak's poetry embarks upon a search for a concrete realization of love and spiritual rebirth. Kwak's early poetry overflows with anger at the egregious violence of society and a love for the common people who suffer from the brunt of this violence. The emotions at the fore in this poetry (sadness, loneliness, rage, despair, longing, love) demonstrate the extent of the poet's anger and frustration.[6]

In Kwak's first collection of poems, these emotions are expressed in vague, abstract terms, they become progressively crystallized and concretely conveyed with each successive collection. The poems in Seoul senoya reveal awareness of history and social conditions and a depiction of the human condition in concrete and lyrical. These poems transcend the basic emotions of anger and sorrow in light of the violence in the world and attempt to restore purity and love.[7]

Awards

Works in Korean (Partial)

Poetry

Essay Collections

See also

External links

Korean Poem – Winter’s Dance by Kwak Jae-gu at Gwangju Blog - http://gwangjublog.com/kwak-jae-gu/

References

  1. " 곽재구 " biographical PDF available at: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  2. "곽재구". naver.com. Naver. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  3. " 곽재구" LTI Korea Datasheet: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  4. A place to learn to write: Sunchon National University has Kim Won-il AND Kwak Jae-gu (김원일, 곽재구): a-place-to-learn-to-write-sunchon-national-university-has-kim-won-il-and-kwak-jae-gu-김원일-곽재구
  5. " 곽재구" LTI Korea Datasheet: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  6. " 곽재구" LTI Korea Datasheet: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
  7. " 곽재구" LTI Korea Datasheet: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
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