Mun Tae-jun (Korean: 문태준, born 1970) is a South Korean poet.^[1]

Career

Mun Tae-jun has published several poetry collections since his prize-winning debut in 1994, and the great artistic potential of his works have gained the attention of many literary artists and critics.^[2]

Mun Tae-jun's poems employ a comforting language to soothe the wounds of the soul. His poems seek to assuage the pains of those suffering from the violence and oppression of a heartless society. He values "conversation" highly, emphasizing full empathy between two existences, such as when he says, "That over there, is in me here; and I here, am in that over there. Let me respect that which is not me, and therefore those things that are me." The poet aspires to a state in which the subject and object are not distinct form one another, but fused together. In this respect, Mun Tae-jun carries on the traditional lyrical tradition.^[3] His poetry collection The Development of Dusk (2008) was translated to English by Kim Won-Chung and Christopher Merrill and published as The Growth of a Shadow (2012). A handful of his other works have also been translated.^[4]

Selected works

Awards

• Dongseo Literary Prize (2004)
• Nojak Literary Prize (2004)
• Midang Literary Award (2005) - for "누가 울고 간다"
• Yushim Literary Prize (2006)
• Sowol Poetry Prize (2006) - for "그맘때에는"

References