The sky was bleak and cloudy as if it would snow, but it didn’t, and instead it was a cold, drizzly day.

“Seolleongtang(ox bone soup) is here, why can’t you eat…

Strangely enough, today!

My luck seemed to be too good…”

 – Novel <One Lucky Day (Unsu Joeun Nal)> –

He was born in Gyesan-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Daegu.

In 1915, he attended Posung High School, but left the very next year. Went into a school in Tokyo.

Arrived to Korea in 1917, published the literary coterie magazine called 『Geohwa』 with Yi sang-hwa and Baek Gi-man.

In 1920, he began his career by publishing his first writing .

In 1921, published leaving good impression to fellow writers. And released . It satirized the intellectuals who are aware of the irrationality of society but are unable to resist it.

He joined the literary fanzine 『Baekjo』, and became actively involved in the new literary movement.

In 1922, he entered Dongmyung publishing company, but the company fell into a deep slump, ended up closing it. He moved to Donga Ilbo right after the closure in 1925.

In 1924, released and the year after released .

In 1936, during the time as the social affair chief at Donga Ilbo, he was imprisoned for a year due to their involvement in the “Erasure Incident of Japanese National Flag (first media censorship)”.

In 1939, he wrote the series novel .

The book is about a general of Kingdom Baekje that has been collapsed who fought for their independence. The series was forcibly discontinued by the colonial authorities and it was left unfinished due to his death.

In 1943, he passed away due to suffering chronic illness in Jegi-dong.

On August 15, 2005, Hyun Jin-geon was posthumously recognized for his contribution to the independence movement and was awarded a Presidential Commendation.

In 2009, he was honored with the establishment of “Hyun Jin-geon Literary Award.”

Change in Bingheo Hyun Jin-geon’s Literature:

1. Experimental novels

Mostly is an autobiographical novel with a lot of first-person elements. These works record the various setbacks that young people face and vividly portray their struggles.

2. Accusatory novels

During the period, he wrote works about the reality of colonialism, using third-person, fictional characters to construct the novels.

3. Historical novels

Through his historical epic novels, he expressed the spirit of the nation and raised the nation’s pride.

In addition, in his criticism essay (『Gaebyuk』, 1926), he suggested the vision of Korean literature during the colonial era and expressed his love for the country and literature.

Bingheo Hyun Jin-geon, the pioneer writer to the realism genre in Korea and independence activist. Now it is your turn to complete what he had dreamed of for the better future!