Author Han Kang was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her “intense poetic prose” on Oct. 10, per a press release by The Royal Swedish Academy.
Kang’s work focuses on “historical traumas,” colonial violence, and the “fragility” of humanity, the academy continued. The South Korean author is known for works such as The Vegetarian—which won the International Booker prize in 2016—The White Book, Human Acts, and Greek Lessons. The prize for literature is awarded for an author’s full body of work, not a specific text. Like all those awarded the Nobel Prize, Kang has won 11m krona ($1.1 million) for the prize.
“I’m so surprised and honored,” Kang told the Nobel Museum in a phone call soon after she learned about the honor. “ So I can say I grew up with Korean literature, which I feel very close to. So I hope this news is nice for Korean literature readers and my friends, writers.” She went on to say she will celebrate “quietly” by having tea with her son.
Kang is the first South Korean person and the first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
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“Han Kang writes intense, lyrical prose that is both tender and brutal,” said Anna-Karin Palm, a co-opted member of the Nobel Committee for Literature, in an interview with the Nobel Prize Museum after the announcement. “There’s continuity as to themes, that is quite remarkable, but at the same time, a huge stylistic variation that makes every book a new aspect or a new expression of these central themes.”
Kang, 53, has been a writer for over 30 years, but The Vegetarian—first published in 2007—was her first novel to be translated into English in 2015, and received widespread acclaim and attention. She has won prizes including the Manhae literary prize and the Kim Yujung Literary Prize for her other work
Kang was born in Gwangju in 1970, though she grew up in Suyuri and currently lives in Seoul. She studied Korean literature at Yonsei University. Her first published works were five poems in 1993, and she made her debut in fiction the following year with a short story. The Vegetarian, the book that boosted her global profile, is about a woman who chooses to stop eating meat after having violent dreams about animal slaughter. It explores themes of isolation, social conformity and violence.
The only other South Korean person to win a Nobel Prize is the nation’s former President Kim Dae-jung, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 2000 for his efforts to restore democracy in South Korea and for his “sunshine policy” toward North Korea.