Choi Ihn Suk is a writer, playwright and screenwriter who is a
significant figure in Korean Realism. He felt limited within the
domain of the performing arts, which was not free from censorship, and
began writing fiction. Choi Ihn Suk says the following. “At the
time, there was censorship. If you finished writing a script, you had
to submit it to the Performing Arts Committee before putting on the
show. Then the committee would read the script. They’d cross out
certain sections with red lines, demanding an edit, and in the worst
case the show couldn’t happen. You could only put up a show once you
passed through censorship. Fiction or poetry would get censored
afterwards, but performances would get censored beforehand. Due to
such conditions of the time, it was difficult to write a script and
put up a play. So I began writing fiction.†As a writer who began
writing fiction to find literary freedom, Choi Ihn Suk is a writer who
expands his literary scope by repeated change. Gangcheolmujigae (ê°•ì²
무지개 Iron Rainbow), a novel published in 2015, is a science
fiction story about Korea after 2100. In Gangcheolmujigae (ê°•ì²
무지개 Iron Rainbow), the value of labor in Korea has fallen, and
nuclear waste has been spilled over the Yellow Sea, turning it into a
sea of death. Society is controlled by a totalitarian regime, and
other than the fact that there has been reunification, it is a place
of darkness. Upon such imagination of science fiction, Choi Ihn Suk
throw a question of realism regarding reality.Choi Ihn Suk was born on
September 17, 1953, in Namwon Jeollabukdoas as a second son among 2
sons and 4 daughters. His father was a reporter at a regional
newspaper, and was also an editorialist. Later, he spent his life as a
student in Jeonju and Seoul. His literary dreams began during his high
school years, and argued with his parents on whether he should go into
the arts or the sciences. He went to university in 1972.As a writer,
he wrote plays first. In 1977, he submitted a play to a new writer's
contest, and that led to him participating in a ‘Playwriting
Workshop’ taught by Yeo Seok-ki, a professor of English literature
at Korea University at the time. He wrote a play “Byeokgwa changâ€
(벽과 창 The Wall and the Window) in this workshop, and that play
won the Monthly Korean Literature New Writer's Award in 1980,
launching his literary career. Afterwards, he put up various plays on
the stage, actively pursuing his career as a playwright. With
“Eotteon saramdo sarajiji anneunda†(ì–´ë–¤ ì‚¬ëžŒë „ ì‚¬ë ¼ì§€ì§€
ì•ŠëŠ"다 No One Disappears), he won the Baeksang Arts Awards New
Writer's Award in 1983, and the Yeonghui Play Award in 1985. In the
same year he won the Korean Literature Prize New Writer's Award with
“Geu Chanlanhadeon yeoreumeul wihayeo†(ê·¸ ì°¬ëž€í•˜ë ˜ ì—¬ë¦„ì „
위하여 For That Shining Summer). In 1988 he won the Grand Bell
Award in Dramatization for “Chilsu and Mansu†(ì¹ ìˆ˜ì™€ 만수),
showing his talent in various areas.
significant figure in Korean Realism. He felt limited within the
domain of the performing arts, which was not free from censorship, and
began writing fiction. Choi Ihn Suk says the following. “At the
time, there was censorship. If you finished writing a script, you had
to submit it to the Performing Arts Committee before putting on the
show. Then the committee would read the script. They’d cross out
certain sections with red lines, demanding an edit, and in the worst
case the show couldn’t happen. You could only put up a show once you
passed through censorship. Fiction or poetry would get censored
afterwards, but performances would get censored beforehand. Due to
such conditions of the time, it was difficult to write a script and
put up a play. So I began writing fiction.†As a writer who began
writing fiction to find literary freedom, Choi Ihn Suk is a writer who
expands his literary scope by repeated change. Gangcheolmujigae (ê°•ì²
무지개 Iron Rainbow), a novel published in 2015, is a science
fiction story about Korea after 2100. In Gangcheolmujigae (ê°•ì²
무지개 Iron Rainbow), the value of labor in Korea has fallen, and
nuclear waste has been spilled over the Yellow Sea, turning it into a
sea of death. Society is controlled by a totalitarian regime, and
other than the fact that there has been reunification, it is a place
of darkness. Upon such imagination of science fiction, Choi Ihn Suk
throw a question of realism regarding reality.Choi Ihn Suk was born on
September 17, 1953, in Namwon Jeollabukdoas as a second son among 2
sons and 4 daughters. His father was a reporter at a regional
newspaper, and was also an editorialist. Later, he spent his life as a
student in Jeonju and Seoul. His literary dreams began during his high
school years, and argued with his parents on whether he should go into
the arts or the sciences. He went to university in 1972.As a writer,
he wrote plays first. In 1977, he submitted a play to a new writer's
contest, and that led to him participating in a ‘Playwriting
Workshop’ taught by Yeo Seok-ki, a professor of English literature
at Korea University at the time. He wrote a play “Byeokgwa changâ€
(벽과 창 The Wall and the Window) in this workshop, and that play
won the Monthly Korean Literature New Writer's Award in 1980,
launching his literary career. Afterwards, he put up various plays on
the stage, actively pursuing his career as a playwright. With
“Eotteon saramdo sarajiji anneunda†(ì–´ë–¤ ì‚¬ëžŒë „ ì‚¬ë ¼ì§€ì§€
ì•ŠëŠ"다 No One Disappears), he won the Baeksang Arts Awards New
Writer's Award in 1983, and the Yeonghui Play Award in 1985. In the
same year he won the Korean Literature Prize New Writer's Award with
“Geu Chanlanhadeon yeoreumeul wihayeo†(ê·¸ ì°¬ëž€í•˜ë ˜ ì—¬ë¦„ì „
위하여 For That Shining Summer). In 1988 he won the Grand Bell
Award in Dramatization for “Chilsu and Mansu†(ì¹ ìˆ˜ì™€ 만수),
showing his talent in various areas.
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