[The Five: Nobel Literature Prize Coverage by a Literature Reporter]
Author Han Kang at the 18th Ponijung Innovation Award Ceremony held at the Pony Chung Hall, I-Park Tower in Gangnam, Seoul, on the 17th. Photo by Joint Photographic Coverage
[The 5] How did you feel when Han Kang was selected as the recipient?
Im In-taek, the reporter: “On the evening of the 10th at 7 PM, my colleagues and I were eating together. Only I returned to the office around 7:30 PM and was preparing an article for Canadian author Margaret Atwood. At 8 PM, as we tuned into the Nobel Literature Prize live broadcast, within a minute, I heard ‘Han–Kang’. I screamed immediately.” Although the memory is a bit vague, words like ’emergency’ and ‘miracle’ were thrown around. Honestly, I didn’t expect Han Kang to win this year.
[The 2] Why didn’t you expect Han Kang to win?
Im In-taek, the reporter: “It takes a long time to become a great author… sometimes a lifetime,” said Swedish author Ellett Mattson, a representative of the Nobel Literature Prize jury. Han Kang is 53 years old, making her one of only six younger recipients in Nobel Literature history. She is also the second youngest from the 20th century, after Albert Camus. Even Han Kang didn’t seem to expect it. In an interview with Sweden’s SVT, she said she thought it was a prank call when she was informed. However, my second choice for Korean authors as Nobel Literature candidates was Han Kang, with poet Kim Hyesoon, age 69, as my first choice considering her age and experience.
[The 3] The second choice? That’s relatively high.
Im In-taek, the reporter: Han Kang received global attention with the Man Booker Prize for her novel “The Vegetarian” in 2016. The academy also highlighted this in their decision. Personally, I noted her during Norway’s ‘Future Library Project’ in 2014. This initiative will publish one author’s work annually for 100 years, using 1000 trees for limited editions. Han Kang was the fifth selected in 2019, the first for a Korean, a significant moment the more you consider it.
[The 4] What makes Han Kang’s work special?
Im In-taek, the reporter:The winter language, the intense inner alignment with protagonists, and linguistic rigor. In a 1995 interview after her first short story collection, Han Kang responded to a question about her somber stories with, “Isn’t sadness good?” Her 2013 poetry collection also carries this melancholic tone, and winter imagery is frequent in her work. She is known for her intense focus when writing, as noted when she said she wouldn’t need to lie under her desk after a release, highlighting her commitment to linguistic intensity.
[The 5] Which of her works would you recommend to readers?
Im In-taek, the reporter: Try reading her poem collection, “The Evening I’ll Leave in the Drawer.” Most writers are hesitant to use “crying” directly, encouraging imagistic descriptions instead. However, Han Kang’s poems are filled with mentions of crying, suggesting she sees it as her most honest language to reflect emotions. Among her novels, “Greek Lessons,” published in 2011, stands out. It features a woman who loses her speech and a man losing his sight, exploring the intricate relationship between language and suffering.