Oh Sae-Young

Oh Sae-young
Oh Sae-young at the Moscow International book fair, 10.9.2017
Born	Oh Sae-young (1942-05-02) 2 May 1942 (age 75) Yeonggwang
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	South Korean
Alma mater	Seoul National University
Genre	poems

Oh Sae-young (吳世榮, born May 2, 1942) is a South Korean poet, critic, and educator. His early work consisted of deconstructive poetry, but currently he mostly writes lyric poetry with Eastern philosophy. He served as a professor at the Seoul National University.

His poetry collection, Night-Sky Checkerboard (밤하늘의 바둑판), was published in the US and was selected as one of the twelve best poetry collections in the US for 2016 by the Chicago Review of Books. He has been awarded the Korean Poets’ Association Prize, the Nokwon Literary Award, the Chong Chi-Yong Literature Prize, the Pyun-Woon Literary Prize, the Gong Cho Literary Award, and the Manhae Literature Prize in Poetry.

Oh Sae-young (吳世榮, born May 2, 1942) was born in Yeonggwang, Chonnam. He graduated from Seoul National University, and became a high school language teacher. He started his literary career in 1968 with the Hyundae Munhak Magazine. In 1970, he published his first poetry collection, Banranhaneun Bit (반란하는 빛 Rebelling Light). In 1972, he participated in the literary magazine Hyundae Poetry. In 1974, he was appointed as a full-time lecturer at Chungnam National University, and in 1980, he earned a doctorate degree in Korean literature from Seoul National University. In 1982, he participated in the inaugural assembly of the Asian Poets’ Association. In 1983 he published the essay collection, Seojeongjeok jinsil (서정적 진실 Lyrical Truth), and the collection of critical essays, Hyundaesiwa silcheonbipyeong (현대시와 실천비평 Modern Poetry and Practical Criticism). In 1987, he was awarded the inaugural Sowol Poetry Award, and was accepted into the IOWA International Writing Program. In 1994, he participated in the writing of a volume on literature as part of the Korean Studies Book Series, Lectures on Korean Literature, published by Story Brook University’s Center for Korean Studies. In the same year, he became a full professor at Seoul National University. In 1995, he lectured on modern Korean literature at the Department of East Asian Languages at U.C. Berkeley. In 2000, he was awarded the Manhae Literature Prize, and published translated versions of two of his poetry collections in Germany. In 2006, he read poetry at the Berkeley Art Museum’s poetry festival, Speak Pacific – 100 years of modern Korean poetry, sponsored by U.C. Berkeley’s Department of East Asian Languages. In 2016, ‘Night-Sky Checkerboard’ was translated and published in the United States. This book was selected by a journal of reviews in the US, the Chicago Review of Books, as one of the twelve best poetry collections of 2016 in the United States.