The honor of receiving the 1st Baekryeong (白綾) Chae Mansik Literary Award, hosted by the Buddhist Literary Arts, went to writer Sim A-jin.
The Chae Mansik Literary Award was established to commemorate Chae Mansik, who presented sharp satire, paradox, and irony in literature during the Japanese colonial period and liberation era, and this year marks its first edition. It is awarded to mid-career writers who have made significant contributions to the development of domestic novel literature.
The first recipient is writer Sim A-jin, who published the short story collection "A Divine Move" in 2022. Sim debuted in 1999 with the novella "For the Time to Drink Tea" and has since presented short story collections such as "Breathing," "Stop, Jump," "Fox," "Practice of Indifference," and the novel "Maybe, It's Sincerity." In 2020, she won the Dong-A Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest with the children's story "A Light Greeting."
In her acceptance speech, Sim said, "I have never published a book smoothly even once. I had to search for contests and knock on the doors of various publishers. Writing and submitting, writing and submitting... I sometimes felt like my life would end doing just these two things." She added, "I was so happy to hear the news of receiving the Chae Mansik Literary Award. I sincerely thank you. Although the life of submitting will continue, this has given me the strength to stand again."
The award ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. on the 3rd at the Artist's House in Jongno, Seoul. The award will be presented by Jeong Hyun, the only daughter of Chae Mansik (Venerable Chae Young-sil). The recipient will receive a plaque and a prize of 7 million won.
On the same day, the Buddhist Literary Arts Awards will also be presented. The 15th Buddhist Literary Works Award goes to poet Seung Han, and the 7th Buddhist Literary Artist Award goes to poet Woo Jeong-yeon. The Buddhist Literary Newcomer Award goes to writer Kim Young-sung in the essay category and poet Shin Seo-young in the poetry category.
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