Participants

• Ishii Shinji Wrtier, Japan

  

  Ishii Shinji was born in Osaka, Japan. His first story, written at age five, is entitled “Typhoon” and featured in his first novel Once Upon a Swing. He made his literary debut with The Dog of Amsterdam in 1994. Since Once Upon a Swing in 2000, Ishii has published mostly novels, including: Kutze, Stepp’n on Wheat (2003), which won the Tsubota Literary Award; One Day (2011), which won the Oda Sakunosuke Prize; and Bad Voice (悪声) (2016), which won the Kawai Hayao Prize for Stories. His other major works include: The Story of Giuseppe, A Man Prone to Everything, Twins in a Planetarium and The Story of Po. Ishii is also actively engaged in ‘improvised storytelling,’ in which he recites a story as he writes it, and musical events where phonographs are used.
  Events
• Yun Heunggil Writer, Korea

  

  Yun Heunggil was born in Jeongeup, Jeonbuk, in 1942. Yun received his B.A. in Korean literature from Wonkwang University. He debuted in 1968 by winning the Hankook Ilbo New Writer’s Award for his story, “Season of the Gray Crown.” He is known for his indictments of distorted realities and the absurdities of life and his portrayal of the human will to overcome. His works include, The Man Who Was Left as Nine Pairs of Shoes, Sea of Silence, When Will the Rainbow Appear, The Rainy Spell, Moronic Moon, The Way to Soradan, and Tattoo. He has received the Korean Literature Writer’s Award, Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, Hyundae Literary Award, and Daesan Literary Award. His masterpiece The Rainy Spell was made into the movie Rainy Season (Jangma) in 1979. He is professor emeritus of creative writing at Hanseo University and is an active member of the National Academy of Arts.
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• Hwang Jungeun Writer, Korea

  

  Hwang Jungeun was born in Seoul in 1976. She made her literary debut by winning the Kyunghyang Shinmun New Writer’s Award for her short story “Mother” in 2005. She is noted for her lyrical studies of latent human desires and frustrations that seem ready to explode. Her works include the novels One Hundred Shadows, Savage Alice, and I’ll Go On, and the serial novel Didi’s Umbrella and the short story collections The Seven Thirty-two Elephant Train, Into the World of Pa, and Being Nobody. She has received the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, Shin Dong-yup Prize for Literature, Daesan Literary Award, and Kim Yujung Literary Award.
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