Meet Han Kang, First South Korean To Win Nobel Prize In Literature

South Korean author Han Kang has been awarded the coveted Nobel Prize in literature for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life," the Nobel Committee said on October 10. Kang, the daughter of renowned novelist Han Seung-won, is the first writer from South Korea to receive this award. The 53-year-old is known for her works like The Vegetarian, The White Book, Human Acts and Greek Lessons among others.

First South Korean Writer To Win Nobel Prize

Kang's literature typically traces the themes of violence, patriarchy, and humanity. She is the second Asian woman and the first South Korean ever to win the Nobel Literature Prize. Kang began her published career in 1993 when five of her poems, were featured in the quarterly Literature and Society. Her debut book, the short story collection A Love of Yeosu, was published in 1995. 

She won the Man International Booker Prize in 2016 for her novel, The Vegetarian (2007), which was translated into English in 2015 by Deborah Smith. The grippingly haunting book traces the life of a woman's mental illness due to familial trauma. Kang's recent Korean novel, We Do Not Part, has been well received and will be published in English translation in February 2025. 

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! pic.twitter.com/wRJ1aXcymj

— Han Kang (@HangKangOffic) October 10, 2024

Kang was elected as a Royal Society of Literature International Writer in 2023. According to reports, Kang has taught creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. She is also a musician and interested in visual art. According to reports, critics had not expected Kang to win the Nobel Prize this year as they thought she was "too young". However, notably, the youngest winner is Rudyard Kipling who won the Prize at 41.

Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel remarked speaking to The Guardian, "Kang's empathy for vulnerable, often female, lives is palpable, and reinforced by her metaphorically charged prose. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in a poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose."