Literature Nobel Prize 2024 Goes to South Korean Author Han Kang

South Korean author Han Kang was selected for the Nobel Prize 2024 in Literature on Thursday.

She is known for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.

Born in 1970, in the South Korean city of Gwangju, Han Kang moved with her family to Seoul at the age of 9.

She hails from a literary background with her father being a reputed novelist. She is also linked to art and music, which is reflected throughout her entire literary production.

Kang began her career in 1993 with the publication of a number of poems in the magazine ‘Literature and Society’. Her prose debut came in 1995 with the short story collection ‘Love of Yeosu’. Then followed her other prose works, both novels and short stories.

She received international recognition with the novel ‘The Vegetarian’. Written in three parts, the book portrays the violent consequences that ensue when its protagonist Yeong-hye refuses to submit to the norms of food intake.