Poet Shin Hyundeuk Wins the 2020 'Our Country Good Children's Poetry Award'

Poet Shin Hyun-deuk [Photo by Korean Children's Poetry Association]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Poet Shin Hyun-deuk was selected as the winner of the 2020 'Good Korean Children's Poetry Award.'

The Korean Children's Poetry Association announced that poet Shin Hyun-deuk received the honor of the 19th Good Korean Children's Poetry Award for his poetry collection "The Eyes and Ears of Children's Poetry (Siganui Mulle)" published last September.

Shin Hyun-deuk worked as an elementary school teacher and served as the head of the reporting department at "Sonyeon Hankook Ilbo." In 1959, his children's poem "Mungumeong" was selected as an honorable mention in the New Year's Literary Contest of the "Chosun Ilbo," and the following year, his poem "San" won the contest, marking his literary debut. In 1961, he received the 1st Sonyeon Hankook New Writer's Literary Award for the children's poem "Strange Constellation," and in the same year, he began his literary career by publishing his first poetry collection "Baby Eyes."

The award-winning poetry collection "The Eyes and Ears of Children's Poetry" is Shin Hyun-deuk's 37th collection. The Korean Children's Poetry Association praised the collection as embodying the mature poetic breath of a poet with 60 years since his debut, highlighting Shin Hyun-deuk's unwavering poetic stance and the infinite diversity of themes.

Now in its 19th year, the "Good Korean Children's Poetry Award" is a literary prize organized by the Korean Children's Poetry Association. It selects the best poetry collection published within the year, recommended by fellow poets and chosen through a judging committee. This year, over 70 poetry collections were reviewed.

The Korean Children's Poetry Association also selected and announced nine "Good Poetry Collections of the Year." These include "Boldness is Good (Go Yoon-ja)," "Cat and Tree (Kwon Young-sang)," "Strong Body, Strong Mind (Moon Sam-seok)," "Ten-Year-Old Wallpaper (Kim Soon-young)," "Wildflowers and Instruments (Oh Soon-taek)," "It's Okay, You Are You (Lee Soo-kyung)," "I Am Thinking (Lee Hwa-joo)," "Hurrah Handcart (Cha Young-mi)," and "I Have a Post Office (Ha Cheong-ho)."

The Korean Children's Poetry Association plans to hold a non-face-to-face awards ceremony at its general meeting on the 20th.