The Gowon Memorial Foundation, chaired by Jung Chan-yeol, has announced that essayist Guk Hwa-ri is the winner of the 15th Gowon Literature Prize.
The winning entry is her essay collection titled ‘The Day I Want to Talk About Love’.
In his review, literary critic Kim Jong-hoe noted, “In this essay collection, ‘nomadism’ reads less as a sense of wandering and more as a way of life that continuously discovers the world and renews oneself.”
Guk is a student of the late poet Gowon, having first studied literature at ‘Geulmaru.’ In her acceptance speech, she shared, “Professor Gowon is the mentor who opened the first path to literature for me, and those teachings became the root of my writing.”
She added, “I want to write stories that send small ripples through a reader’s heart, encouraging them to look back at their own lives and ponder the deeper meanings of existence.”
The Gowon Literature Prize was established to honor the literary achievements and spirit of poet Gowon (1925–2008) and to pass down his legacy to future generations.
A towering figure in overseas Korean literature, poet Gowon was an English literature scholar, translator, and pro-democracy activist who bridged literary activities between the United States and South Korea. After teaching creative writing and comparative literature at various universities and settling in Los Angeles, he founded ‘Geulmaru’ in 1990 as a literature research and creative space, ensuring that immigrant writers and aspiring authors could freely create and exchange ideas without constraints.
Geulmaru has since established itself as a steadfast pillar and nurturing ground for the literary competence of overseas Korean writers.
The Gowon Memorial Foundation (Geulmaru) established the Gowon Literature Prize to inherit and further develop the democratic, peaceful spirit and literary heritage cultivated by the late poet in the diaspora region.
