Daesan Literary Awards for College Students

HISTORY

2014
The Daesan Literary Awards for College Students are given in order to encourage young writers and inject fresh vitality into Korean literary circles by discovering works with the vigor and experimental spirit that only university students possess. For the 2014 selection, works by Korean and overseas university students were submitted in six categories: poetry, novels, dramas, scenarios, literary criticism and children's literature. Some 643 works were received, including 227 works of poetry, 284 novels, 69 dramas, 16 scenarios, 11 works of literary criticism and 36 children's literature. Judges were assembled by genre, and after screening the works, they chose, by category, Kim Jong-yeon (freshman, Seoul Institute of the Arts) in poetry, Sin Yun-hui (junior, Seoul Institute of the Arts) in novels, Go Jeong-min (sophomore, Seoul Institute of the Arts) in dramas, Yeom Dong-kyu (senior, Korea University) in literary criticism, Lee Hyeon-woo (junior, Kyung Hee University) in scenarios, and Kim Ji-hye (freshman, Gyeongin National University of Education) in children's literature. Winners received a KRW 5 million prize and an opportunity to take an overseas literature tour. The award ceremony was held in the seminar room of the Kyobo Building in Gwanghwamun on Jan. 12, 2015. Moreover, the winners took the overseas literature tour from Feb. 3 to Feb. 13, during which they visited the United Kingdom and France and took part in various programs. In particular, the participants heard a great deal of advice on literature during a meeting with Nigerian novelist Ben Okri and broadened their literary vision through exchanges with students at Aix-Marseille University. The Daesan Foundation is currently reorganizing the awards so that it may serve as an even greater literary gateway for university students.