Choi Seung-ho

Choi Seung-Ho is identified as a Korean ecopoet. His publications also include children's poetry. He was born in the small rural village of Chungcheong, Gangwon Province, in 1954, and taught for many years in an elementary school in the countryside. In 2004, the Daesan Foundation sponsored him and other writers in fora in Mexico and Cuba. In 2007, the Korea Literature Translation Institute sponsored him at ARCO in Malaga City, Spain. Work Choi's work focuses on the environment and modern society's impact on it, in particular, the crisis brought on by rapid industrialization and the consequent vulgarization of human life in a capitalistic society. Choi uses images of “waste”—basements, drains, and toilets filled with waste material and the rank smell emanating from them to symbolize the corruption dominating urban landscape. Despite such offensive images, the tone of his poetry remains thoughtful and meditative and the poet never descends to vulgar word play. He looks upon the corrupt world with the metaphysical awareness of a Buddhist monk. Buddhism and Taoism have been influential in the formation of Lee's poetic sensibility. As an aspiring poet, he often immersed himself in intense contemplation of a chosen topic to increase concentration and mental clarity. The mental pain that accompanies such intellectual exercises has burnt itself into his face. To his credit, his poetry does not flaunt an overtly religious tone although his fervor is that of a religious disciple.