"One of the reasons fake news spreads is because individuals fail to live autonomously and instead delegate their agency to others. I wanted to send a message about that aspect."
Seokyunghee, the winner of the Grand Prize at the 3rd 'Nexus Novella Writer Award,' portrayed the process of rumors expanding and reproducing in our society through black comedy in her winning work, "Kim Daeri Died."
Author Kyunghee Seo, who won the Grand Prize at the 'Nexus Short Story Writer Award,' is delivering her acceptance speech. [Photo by Nexus]
The novel deals with the events that colleagues experience over a day following the death of 'Kim Daeri,' an employee in the PR team of a large corporation. As team members suspect Kim Daeri's death was a suicide and investigate the truth behind it, the story highlights the shocking rumors they gather and simultaneously reveals the personal histories of each employee.
The final judging panel, consisting of literary critic Yuseongho, novelist Cheon Woonyoung, and novelist Son Honggyu, commented, "The work has the power to keep readers engaged until the end through meticulous field research and detailed characterization of the figures," and added, "The writing is stable and thorough, and it was impressive that it reflected recent social issues."
At the award ceremony held on the 6th at Nexus headquarters in Paju, Seokyunghee said, "Even during the past mad cow disease protests, there were talks about fake news. I wanted to explore the situation that arises when one delegates their agency to others and problems occur." She continued, "I submitted repeatedly over a long time and faced many rejections. A post office worker recognized me and asked, 'Still not successful?' which was heartbreaking, but receiving this award now makes me very emotional and happy." Seokyunghee began her literary career in 2015 by winning the Kim Yujeong New Writer Award with her short story 'Mirunamu Lighthouse.'
The Nexus Novella Writer Award is an online contest with a total prize pool of 40 million KRW. The grand prize is 30 million KRW, and two excellence awards of 5 million KRW each are given.
From the left in the photo: Excellence Award winner Lee Seok-yong, Grand Prize winner Seo Kyung-hee, Excellence Award winner Lee Dong-hyun. [Photo by Nexus]
The excellence awards went to Lee Donghyun's "Goodbye Sally," praised for its unique setting of making and selling marbles infused with characters' memories in an oil-pressing factory, creating a relatively weighty allegory, and to Lee Seokyong's "Delicious Execution Recipe," a psychological drama themed around correction, imprisonment, and food.
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