Gong Ji-young

In this Korean name, the family name is Gong.

공지영 Gong Ji-young

Gong Ji-young (Korean: 공지영; born 31 January 1963 in Seoul) is a South Korean novelist and journalist. Her popular novels are My Sister Bongsoon (2002), Our Happy Time (2005) and The Crucible (2009). She is considered a pioneer of Korean feminism. Since the mid 1990s, she has been considered one of the most eminent Korean female writers. She is gaining in popularity, especially among female readers. Her books have sold more than nine million copies.

Early literary career

In 1985, Gong Ji-Young received her Bachelor's in Arts in Literature from Yonsei University. At that time she worked as a writer at a publishing company and at The Council of Writers for Freedom and Practice, which is now called The Writers Association of Korea (WAK). She has participated in demonstration for Korea's democracy in the 1980s. She was sent to a detention center for joining anti-vote rigging demonstration and decided to become a writer. In 1988, she made a literary debut through her novel Dawn. In the middle of the 1990s, her novels Mackerel, Human Decency and Go Alone Like the Rhinoceros' Horn were on the bestseller list concurrently. In the early 2000s, she sold her novel My Sister Bongsoon for almost 1.6 million volumes.

Current work

Gong Ji-Young divorced three times and has raised three children. The children's last names are all different. To pay for her children's loans, she made a comeback after seven years and released Our Happy Time(2005). The novel was made into a feature film with a total of over four million viewers. After having published The Crucible (2009), the novel was made into a feature film (2011) raising public interest in the rights of disabled students. She was awarded the Lee-sang Prize for the 2011 novel Wander an Alley in Barefoot.

Awards

Gong received several awards for her work:

• 2001 - 7th 21st Century Literary Award
• 2001 - 27th Korean Novel and Literature Award from Korean Novelist Association
• 2004 - 12th Oh Young-soo Literature Award
• 2006 - 9th Special Media Award from Amnesty International

Works in English

• Human Decency. Jimoondang, 2006. ISBN 8988095928, OCLC 77530021. Translated by Bruce Fulton.
• My Sister, Bong Soon. Mosaic Press, 2005. ISBN 0889628319, OCLC 61700295. Translated by Jung-eun Park.

Works in Korean

• 1993 - Go Alone Like a Rhino Horn
• 1994 - Mackerel
• 2002 - My Sister Bongsoon
• 1999 - Crying Existence
• 2000 - Who We Are, Where We Are From, Where We Are Going? (received seventh 21 Century Literary Award in 2001)
• 2005 - Films of My Life
• 2005 - Maundy Thursday ("Our Happy Time")
• 2006 - I Was Alone Like a Raindrop
• 2006 - The Unhurt Soul
• 2009 - People in the Bible for Children
• 2009 - The Crucible