Ha Jaeyoun

Ha Jaeyoun was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1975. She studied Korean literature at Korea University and went on to obtain her master's and doctoral degrees there. She made her literary debut in 2002 when the journal Literature and Society published several of her poems, including "Isibosi supeomaket" (25시 슈퍼마켓 The Supermarket at the 25th Hour). Since then she has published two poetry collections entitled Radio deijeu (라디오 데이즈 Radio Days) (2006) and Segyeui modeun haebyeoncheoreom (세계의 모든 해변처럼 Like All Beaches in the World) (2012), as well as a monograph called Geundaesiui moheomgwa umjigineun joseoneo (근대시의 모험과 움직이는 조선어 The Adventure of Modern Poetry and the Changing Korean Language) (2012). In 2005, she became a visiting scholar at George Mason University. In the following years, she was appointed research professor at Korea University and post-doctoral researcher at Hanyang University, before starting her current position as research professor at the Wonkwang University Institute of Humanities. She participated in the 2016 Seoul International Writers' Festival.[3] Since 2016, she has been a member of Nunchiwoogi, a group of artists that publishes a crowdfunded poetry magazine.

Ha Jaeyoun's poetry reflects on familiar objects found in reality but manages to convey a new sensibility. Ha describes how people have grown accustomed to meaningless relationships and futile emotions in a society of dazzling spectacle. Without ever expressing intense emotion, she portrays the world she has internalized in a way that resonates with today's desensitized audience. The paradoxical nature of "familiar indifference" creates dynamism in her poetry and thus gives it a sense of new freedom.[4]

Ha's first poetry collection Radio deijeu (라디오 데이즈 Radio Days) often uses everyday objects and experiences as subject matter, such as a cloud, bench, park, sunlight-filled window, TV screen, comic book shop around the corner, sleepy afternoon, and shabby neighborhood house with an iron gate. Such realistic subjects make her poetry highly accessible to readers. But when Ha describes her subjects, she also expresses doubt about her memory of them; the objects and phenomena portrayed in her work are constantly moving and changing.[5]

Her second poetry collection Segyeui modeun haebyeoncheoreom (세계의 모든 해변처럼 Like All Beaches in the World) allows readers to visualize abstract spaces using images of dolls, ghosts, animals, and more. While Ha features numerous ordinary scenes and objects, she contemplates them with as little emotion as possible. Her dispassionate tone may be seen as an attempt to squarely face the sadness in the world.[6]

1. 황현산, <모험하는 언어와 서정시>, 『창작과 비평』, 2012 {Hwang, Hyeon-san. "The Adventures of Language and Lyric Poetry." Changbi, 2012.}

2. 허윤진, <동공에 박제된 연인>, 『문학과 사회』, 2007 {Heo, Yun-jin. "The Taxidermied Lover in the Pupil." Literature and Society, 2007.}

• Book reading and puppet performance at the 2016 Seoul International Writers' Festival
• [Culture Day] Translation: Poetry, Meeting with Poet Ha Jaeyoun
• Discussion with poet Ha Jaeyoun