Stockholm, Oct 10: South Korean author Han Kang has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, marking a significant achievement as the first South Korean writer to receive this prestigious honor. The Nobel Committee praised her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life,” announcing the award on Thursday in Stockholm.
Han Kang, 53, was born in Gwangju, South Korea, and has garnered international acclaim for her work that delicately explores the vulnerabilities of the human condition, often with a focus on female experiences. Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee, highlighted her ability to blend physical and emotional suffering in her works, creating a “double exposure of pain” through connections between the body and the mind, the living and the dead.
Her breakthrough on the international stage came with her novel The Vegetarian, a haunting story about a woman who chooses to stop eating meat, leading to devastating consequences. Written in three parts, this novel exemplifies Han’s innovative approach to contemporary prose. The committee also noted her profound understanding of Eastern thought in her depiction of mental and physical torment.
Han Kang began her literary career in 1993, publishing poems in Literature and Society. She made her prose debut in 1995 with the short story collection Love of Yeosu, further establishing herself as a prominent voice in literature.
The Nobel Prize in Literature, long dominated by male writers, has been awarded to only 17 women, including French writer Annie Ernaux in 2022. Han Kang’s recognition continues to expand the diversity of voices celebrated in world literature.
The prize includes a monetary award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million), a gold medal, and will be officially presented on December 10 in honor of Alfred Nobel, the award’s founder.
