Mailing List


Yi Mun-yol

Yi Mun-yol was born in Seoul in 1948, but his father defected to North Korea during the Korean War, leaving his family in the South, where they had to endure years of suspicion and stigma. After much torment, struggle and poverty, he was able to enter Seoul National University. He made his literary debut in 1979 when his novella Saehagok was one of the winners of the New Spring Literary Contest sponsored by the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper. A prolific author, Yi Mun-yol has published a number of outstanding novels including Son of Man (the first chapter of which appears above), The PoetFor the Emperor, and the novellas Garuda and Our Twisted Hero. Since 1999 he has served as the head of the Buak Literary Center, a residential program for budding writers.



Articles Available Online


Son of Man

fiction

January 2014

Yi Mun-yol

TR. Brother Anthony of Taizé

fiction

January 2014

Rain falling onto thick layers of accumulated dust had left the windows of the criminal investigations office so mottled that they were virtually opaque....

READ NEXT

poetry

Issue No. 3

Cousin Alice

Medbh McGuckian

poetry

Issue No. 3

Your mountain is robed in sombre rifle green And one of its greener fields is suddenly Black with rooks....

poetry

November 2012

Mr Minotaur

Simon Pomery

poetry

November 2012

Hey Mr Minotaur, so red, so neatly hunchbacked on account of your thick neck, ready to headbutt victims to...

Art

September 2014

On the Ground

Teju Cole

Art

September 2014

I visited Palestine in early June 2014, just before the latest wave of calamity befell its people. For eight...

 

Get our newsletter

 

* indicates required