Mun Tae-jun

In this Korean name, the family name is Moon.

Mun Tae-jun (Korean: 문태준, born 1970) is a South Korean poet.^[1]

Mun Tae-jun
Born	1970 (age 54–55) Gimcheon, South Korea
Occupation	Writer, poet
Language	Korean
Alma mater	Korea University
Korean name
Hangul	문태준
Hanja	文太俊
RR	Mun Taejun
MR	Mun T'aejun

Career

Mun Tae-jun has published several poetry collections since his prize-winning debut in 1994, and the great artistic potential of his works have gained the attention of many literary artists and critics.^[2]

Mun Tae-jun's poems employ a comforting language to soothe the wounds of the soul. His poems seek to assuage the pains of those suffering from the violence and oppression of a heartless society. He values "conversation" highly, emphasizing full empathy between two existences, such as when he says, "That over there, is in me here; and I here, am in that over there. Let me respect that which is not me, and therefore those things that are me." The poet aspires to a state in which the subject and object are not distinct form one another, but fused together. In this respect, Mun Tae-jun carries on the traditional lyrical tradition.^[3] His poetry collection The Development of Dusk (2008) was translated to English by Kim Won-Chung and Christopher Merrill and published as The Growth of a Shadow (2012). A handful of his other works have also been translated.^[4]

Selected works

Works in translation

• The Growth of a Shadow: Selected Poems of Taejoon Moon (2012) - translated by Kim Won-Chung and Christopher Merrill ISBN 9780982746639

Works in Korean (partial)

Poetry collections

• Crowded Backyard (수런거리는 뒤란, 2000) ISBN 978-8-936-42196-0
• Bare Feet (맨발, 2004) ISBN 978-8-936-42238-7
• Flatfish (가재미, 2006) ISBN 978-8-932-01713-6
• The Development of Dusk (그늘의 발달, 2008) ISBN 978-8-932-01881-2
• A Distant Place (먼 곳, 2012) ISBN 978-8-936-42343-8
• Our Final Face (우리들의 마지막 얼굴, 2015) ISBN 978-8-936-42387-2
• What Is the End of What I Long For? (내가 사모하는 일에 무슨 끝이 있나요, 2018) ISBN 978-8-954-65017-5

Prose collections

• Embrace: Holding You, I Am Stained (포옹 - 당신을 안고 내가 물든다, 2007)

Awards

• Dongseo Literary Prize (2004)
• Nojak Literary Prize (2004)
• Midang Literary Award (2005) - for "누가 울고 간다"
• Yushim Literary Prize (2006)
• Sowol Poetry Prize (2006) - for "그맘때에는"