Author Lee Geum-yi poses for a photo during an interview with JoongAng Ilbo in Mapo District, western Seoul, on March 18. [KWEN HYEK-JAE]
Veteran author Lee Geum-yi, whose stories for children and teenagers have resonated across generations, is once again drawing international attention after making the fi
¾ß¸¶Åä°ÔÀÓ´Ù¿î·Îµå nal short list for the Hans Christian Andersen Award for the second time.
¡°At first, I thought I simply had a different kind of childlike innocence from other people,¡± Lee said. ¡°Recently,
¹Ù´ÙÀ̾߱â°ÔÀÓ¹æ¹ý though, I realized there is a child inside me who never got to grow up. That child keeps asking me to go on telling its stories.¡±
Lee, 64 years old, is a novelist with a 42-year career whos
¿À¼ÇÆÄ¶ó´ÙÀ̽º»çÀÌÆ® e books include ¡°With Yeonggu and Heukgu¡± (1991, translated), ¡°You Too Are a Twilight Lily¡± (1999), ¡°Yujin and Yujin¡± (2004), ¡°Sohee¡¯s Room¡± (2010) and ¡°B-cut for you¡± (2023). Still, it was only recen
¿À¸®Áö³Î°ñµå¸ù tly that she came to understand why she had spent more than 30 years writing stories for children, beginning with her debut work, she told the JoongAng Ilbo at its headquarters on March 18.
¹Ù´ÙÀ̾߱⿹½Ã¾ß¸¶Åä°ÔÀÓ That long and intense reflection is now reaching the world. In January, news broke that she had made the final short list for the Hans Christian Andersen Award for the second time.
¡°When I first made the short list in 2024, I had no expectations, so it felt like a bonus,¡± the writer said. ¡°Up until I made the short list this time, the pressure was enormous, but now I actually feel at ease and find myself thinking of the people I am grateful to.¡±
The Hans Christian Andersen Award, established in 1956 in honor of Danish fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75), is awarded every two years to one writer and one illustrator who have contributed to the development of children¡¯s literature. Each country¡¯s Andersen committee recommends its national candidate to the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), and an international jury selects the winners based on the creator¡¯s body of work.
For books written in languages other than English, English translations must be submitted for the international jury. This year¡¯s winners will be announced on April 13 at the Bologna Children¡¯s Book Fair in Italy.
Author Lee Geum-yi poses for a photo during an interview with JoongAng Ilbo in Mapo District, western Seoul, on March 18. [KWEN HYEK-JAE]
The books Lee and the Korean Board on Books for Young People submitted this time were ¡°Can¡¯t I Go Instead¡± (2016) and ¡°The Picture Bride¡± (2020), both of which have been published in English, along with ¡°One Night¡± (2016), ¡°Bamti Village Marie¡¯s House¡± (2024, translated) and ¡°B-cut for you," which were translated into English for judging because no separate English editions had been published.
¡°The books published in the English-speaking world are part of my female diaspora trilogy,¡± Lee said. ¡°I chose ¡®One Night,¡¯ a fairy tale for younger readers, ¡®Bamti Village Marie¡¯s House,¡¯ the latest in the Bamti Village series that I have continued for more than 30 years, and ¡®B-cut for you,¡¯ a novel whose protagonists are children who say they dream of becoming YouTubers. I wanted to show the world what I have created as a writer.¡±
One of her best-known works, ¡°Yujin and Yujin,¡± had been included in the 2024 submission and was left out this time.
Even the novels in her female diaspora trilogy, which are generally classified as general fiction, were, in fact, written for adolescents, according to Lee. ¡°Can¡¯t I Go Instead," ¡°The Picture Bride¡± and ¡°Cracks of Sorrow¡± (2025, translated) each begin with the story of a 7-year-old, 18-year-old and 13-year-old girl, respectively. All three books were later republished in young adult editions.
¡°From a copyediting standpoint, there were no major changes, but by republishing them under the ¡®1318¡¯ series for teenagers, we thought young readers would be able to approach the books more freely from their own perspective,¡± said Yoon Seol-hee, an editor at publisher Sakyejul. 1318 is the publication's teenage-exclusive series.
Author Lee Geum-yi poses for a photo during an interview with JoongAng Ilbo in Mapo District, western Seoul, on March 18. [KWEN HYEK-JAE]
That is not the only thing Lee pays close attention to when it comes to young readers.
¡°I try to bring out revised editions as often as possible when circumstances allow,¡± she said. ¡°There is an argument that literature reflects its times, and so revisions should be kept to a minimum. But I want to carefully reflect new sensitivities and sensibilities that neither I nor our society fully understood or accepted when I first wrote those books, because children do not read them thinking, ¡®This was written a long time ago.¡¯¡±
Lee studies aspects of youth culture that she is unfamiliar with, including YouTube and social media, and even visits amusement parks while working on a book.
¡°I may be depicting the minds of teenagers living in the 2020s,¡± Lee said, ¡°but what enters those stories is the heart of Lee Geum-yi as a teenager. The world changes quickly, but I believe the universal emotions that do not change are the same in today¡¯s teenagers and in me.¡±
Lee herself was once startled and comforted by the realization that Heidi¡¯s feelings matched her own when she read Johanna Spyri's ¡°Heidi¡± (1880-81) at age 10.
¡°Even children who, to adults, seem to have no worries and no problems carry sadness and pain,¡± she said. ¡°I want to offer those children and teenagers the same comfort and hope that I once received.¡±
Author Lee Geum-yi poses for a photo during an interview with JoongAng Ilbo in Mapo District, western Seoul, on March 18. [KWEN HYEK-JAE]
Her books have reached not only Asia and the English-speaking world, but also Russia and the Middle East. It may be the strength of the universal emotions she has carefully built into her work. Yet books are becoming more distant from children and teenagers.
¡°There are so many things competing for children¡¯s attention: provocative dramas, short-form videos and games,¡± Lee said. ¡°I hope children get to enjoy forms of play and entertainment on many different levels. And I want books and novels to be one of them. That is why I try to make books fun to read as well.¡±
¡°Since the rise of AI, empathy is often cited as one of the qualities that can show what it means to be human,¡± said Lee.
¡°But the reality for Korean children is so rigid and repetitive that they have little chance to develop that ability. All the more reason I hope they can have experiences of empathizing and being empathized with through books. We cannot force children to read. Adults need to work harder to help them encounter this good thing sooner.¡±
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY CHOI HYE-RI [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]