Annual event celebrates work of Baek and 4 other writers born 100 years ago


It has been 100 years since Korea’s beloved poet Baek Seok (1912-1973) was born.

“No poet in history holds a comparable position in Korea,” said literary critic Hwang Gwang-soo, who attended a press meeting on Tuesday in Seoul to share his plans for an upcoming event commemorating the poet’s life.

“Because he chose to move back to his hometown, which is located in North Pyeongan Province of North Korea, after the Korean War, scholars and readers in South Korea were prohibited from reading his works until 1988. Although it hasn’t been a long time since his works became available here, they have become extremely popular among scholars and ordinary readers.”

Celebrating the 100th birthday of the late poet known for his distinctive flair for language and use of North Pyeongan dialect in his poems, Daesan Foundation and Writers Association of Korea is holding a special event next month.

Titled “Literary Symposium Celebrating Centennial Anniversary Writers,” the annual literary event of the two organizations has been featuring writers who celebrate their 100th anniversary each year since 2001.

This year, five poets and writers who were born in the year 1912 have been selected to be featured, including Baek Seok. They are: poet Sul Chunc-sik (1912-1953), scholar and poet Kim Yong-ho (1912-1973); journalist and writer Lee Ho-woo (1912-1970); and poet Jeong So-pa, who is the only living writer being featured in this event.

Among the five, Baek Seok certainly is getting the biggest share of the spotlight. Aside from the upcoming event which will run from May 3-4, a number of painters will create art works for his poetry and have them exhibited at Tong-in Gallery in Seoul. An academic forum exploring his works will also be held at Seoul Women’s University on June 30.

Baek’s highly original works concentrated on the lives of the ordinary people, local food, as well as the regional customs and sentiment of his hometown. His unique use of North Pyeongan dialect created rare linguistic and poetic beauty. Baek is also known for having left no pro-Japanese remarks in his works, which is rare for a writer who lived through the Japanese colonial period.

“His works have been very influential to poets as well,” said poet Kwak Hyo-hwan, who also serves as the general secretary of the Daesan Foundation. “Just look at the title of poet Ahn Do-hyun’s famous collection of poems ― ‘Lonely High and Solitary.’ It comes directly from Baek’s poem ‘There is a White Wall.’”

Meanwhile, poet Sul Chunc-sik lived a very different life from that of Baek’s. He was born in South Pyeongan Province ― which now belongs to North Korea ― to a wealthy family, and later became one of the very small numbers of Korean elites who managed to study abroad. After studying at Columbia University in New York, he returned to Korea and joined the communist party.

“He could’ve lived an easier life, that’s for sure,” said critic Hwang. “Unlike Baek, Sul used a very direct language, along with images of sun flowers, grapes, and wild weeds. He was very frank about his political visions and views, and they are expressed in his works.”

“Literary Symposium Celebrating Centennial Anniversary Writers” runs from May 3 to 4 in Seoul. For more information, call (02) 721-3203. This year’s event has been sponsored by Seoul Metropolitan Government.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)