South Korean author Han Kang has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life,” as announced by the Swedish Academy on Thursday. The prestigious prize is valued at 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1.1 million).

In a statement, Anders Olsson, chairman of the Academy’s Nobel Committee, praised Han for her “unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead,” highlighting her status as an innovator in contemporary prose through her poetic and experimental style. Han becomes the first South Korean and the 18th woman to receive the literature prize.

Han Kang, born in 1970 to a literary family—her father being a noted novelist—began her writing career in 1993 with a series of poems published in the magazine Literature and Society. Her prose debut came in 1995 with the short story collection Love of Yeosu.

In a telephone interview with the Academy following the announcement, she expressed her surprise and honor at receiving the award. “I’d like to have tea with my son and celebrate quietly tonight,” she stated, indicating plans for a modest celebration after receiving the news.

Themes of grief and historical trauma

Han’s acclaimed work includes the novel The Vegetarian, which won the Man Booker International Prize for fiction in 2016 and marked her major international breakthrough. In this novel, she explores themes of grief, violence, sexuality, and mental health through the story of Yeong-hye, a dutiful wife who rebels against societal expectations by refusing to eat meat after suffering from horrific nightmares.

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The Academy describes Yeong-hye’s journey as one that leads to exploitation and a deepening psychosis, symbolised by the “flaming trees” that represent both the allure and danger of the plant kingdom. Han has reflected on the difficulties she faced while writing this novel, including health challenges that impacted her ability to complete it.

Her focus on historical trauma is poignantly depicted in her novel Human Acts, which recounts the tragic events surrounding the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, where South Korean military forces killed hundreds of students and civilians following a coup d’état. Han, who grew up in Gwangju, has stated that her family struggled with survivors’ guilt long after they left the area.

Celebration and interest in her work

Following the Nobel Prize announcement, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol congratulated Han Kang on Facebook, stating, “You have turned the painful scars of our modern history into great pieces of literature.”

The award has spurred a surge of interest among readers in South Korea, with book lovers flocking to bookstores to purchase her works. “I felt so good, so I paid for my friend’s meal and ran just to come here to get books written by Han Kang,” remarked Kim Hanna, 36, at a bookstore in Seoul.

Han’s latest novel, We Do Not Part, is set to be published in English in 2025, and she has recommended it as a starting point for new readers. She describes this work as conveying “the power of the past over the present,” emphasizing its connection to her earlier novels, including Human Acts and The White Book.

The Nobel Prizes, established through the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, have recognised literary luminaries since 1901, including celebrated figures such as W.B. Yeats, Ernest Hemingway, and Gabriel García Márquez.

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