Kim So-yeon

Kim So Yeon (the romanization preferred by the author according to LTI Korea) (Hangul 김소연; born 1967) is a South Korean poet. In 1993, she published her first poem “Urineun chanyanghanda” (우리는 찬양한다 We Praise) in the journal Poetry & Thought. Life Kim So Yeon was born in Gyeongju, South Korea in 1967. She studied Korean literature at the Catholic University of Korea, where she also earned her master's degree. She has taught poetry at the Seoul Institute of the Arts and Korea National University of Arts, where a number of her students have gone onto become professional poets. She was a part of a literary circle called 21-segijeonmang (“21st century outlook”), which was formed in 1989 and included fellow South Korean poets Jin I-jeong, Yoo Ha, Cha Chang-ryong, and Ham Min Bok. She published four poetry collections: Geuge dalhada (극에 달하다 Pushed to the Limit) in 1996; Bitdeurui pigoni bameul kkeureodanginda (빛들의 피곤이 밤을 끌어당긴다 The Exhaustion of Stars Pulls the Night) in 2006; Nunmuriraneun ppyeo (눈물이라는 뼈 Bones Called Tears) in 2009; and Suhakjaui achim (수학자의 아침 A Mathematician’s Morning) in 2013. She gained wider recognition with the success of her 2008 essay collection Maeum sajeon (마음사전 Dictionary of the Mind). Kim has also been noted for her activism. She signed the Writers’ Declaration 6.9, which petitioned the South Korean government to investigate the deaths of six people during a police raid in 2009, an incident known in South Korea as the “Yongsan Tragedy.” Kim also participated in the writing and production of Gulttuk Shinmun, a newspaper dedicated to the controversial mass layoffs conducted by Ssangyong Motor Company in 2009. More recently, she was an active member of “With No References,” a project to help victims of sex crimes reported within South Korean literary circles.