Oh Jung-hee

Oh Jung-hee (born 1947) is a South Korean writer born in Seoul. She attended Sorabol art college, where she graduated with a degree in creative writing. In her senior year, she made her literary debut as the winner of the Chungang Ilbo Award for aspiring writers. She started the awarded shortstory, The Toyshop Woman, when she was still in high school. The story is about a teenage girl unloved by her parents who, after the death of her disabled brother, falls into nymphomania and an addiction to theft. In her later writings, as a more mature writer, she abandoned metaphorical language and focused on writing about the destructive effect of family life on a woman’s independence and fulfillment. Since 1990, Oh Jung-hee has published books very rarely, one exception being the children’s story Song-I, It’s Morning Outside the Door.

Oh Jung-hee is the recipient of the Yi Sang Literary Award and the Dong-in Literary Award, two of South Korea’s most prestigious short story awards. Her works have been translated into many Asian, South American and European languages.