The 26th Kim Dal-jin Literature Festival was held at the Kim Dal-jin Literature Museum in Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, the birthplace of the poet, from October 2 to 3, 2021. The event consisted of a variety of literary awards, including the 32nd Kim Dal-jin Literature Award, the 2021 Kim Dal-jin Special Literature Award, the 12th Changwon KC International Literature Award, and the 17th Kim Dal-jin Changwon Literature Award, along with a ceremony commemorating the poet’s achievements. Park Jae Kyu, president of KU attended the Festival and presented the Changwon KC International Literature Award on October 2. Kim Sun-hyang, chairman of University of North Korean Studies (UNKS), won the 2021 Kim Dal-jin Special Literature Award. Go to page 8 for the details.
Kim Dal-jin Literature Festival and Literature Award Kim Dal-jin (1907~1989) was a poet and scholar who studied Chinese literature. He was born in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, and actively engaged in presenting many literary works related to Buddhism. Kim Dal-jin Literature Festival was held to find out the root, value and identity of local literature, and renew the creative atmosphere for young writers by commemorating his highly advanced spirit and Buddhist literary world. In honor of his literary spirit, Kim Dal-jin Literature Award was established in 1990 with a purpose of restoring the increasingly diminishing mental value by focusing only on abnormal and excessively material values. The awards are given to the poets and critics who successfully embody and implement the thoughts based on humanunique spirit and the belief in it through poetry creation and criticism. President of KU, Park Jae Kyu Presents the Changwon KC International Literature Award President Park awarded 5,000 dollars in prize money and the Changwon KC International Literature Award to Gjekë Marinaj, an Albanian-American poet who established the Protonism theory and wrote the poem “Horses.” The Protonism theory aimed at world peace and the poem “Horses” was written to criticize the communist system in 1990. Gjekë significantly inspired the Albanian people with his poem. In honor of his work, he has received the Albanian Booker Man Prize and the Italy’s International Author Prize as the founder of the Protonism theory.
Chairman of UNKS, Kim Sun-hyang Receives the 2021 Kim Dal-jin Special Literature Award Kim Sun-hyang was the latest recipient of the 2021 Kim Daljin Special Literature Award for her work, Golden Rose: Journal of Poems 2. As a female leader, she has been serving as chairman of UNKS and served as vice-president of the Korean Red Cross as well as published a number of books containing sincerity and truth. Golden Rose contains 76 poems depicting ties and daily lives from her childhood when she came to the south seeking for freedom, to the present when she has established her career as a national leader, scholar, professor, author, and poetess. This poetry journal also contains her contribution and agony as vice-president of the Korean Red Cross as well as honest stories of her family members. In Golden Rose, her poetic expressions in a lyrical form are neatly arranged, from which we are able to find out her long efforts to purify her life from this uneasy and chaotic world. In recognition of her literary achievement, she had an honor to read her poem “Golden Roses” at the International Poetry Recitation Concert to commemorate the 26th Kim Dal-jin Literature Festival. Let’s enjoy the beautiful poem which sings immortality. Golden Roses At the beginning of the season of roses, An unexpected gift was delivered to me From a boy I had never met A bouquet of golden roses that never wither. Set atop my office bookshelf With the lights on It spills out golden rays like the sun. When I gaze at it every morning The boy whispers to me, "Work hard. These roses never wither." How much longer can I work? Without knowing the day’s end I can only work today. The eternal golden roses Engraving a message on my heart I close my eyes and watch the sunset passing through my mind. Chairman of UNKS Kim Sun-hyang Kyungnam Times ● 9 Significance of Kim Dal-jin Literature Festival The roots of literature consist of specific lives of various people. In particular, local literature is related to the history and unique personality of the region. Therefore, the desirable role of local literature is to avoid narrow regionalism and to expand and practice the uniqueness of local literature based on sound affection to the level of general literature. From this point of view, Kim Dal-jin has set an excellent example of local literature in that his life and literary world had reflected a universal awareness of problems and left a clear mark in Korean literature history. Thus, Kim Dal-jin Literature Festival will serve as a bridge to find out the roots of local literature by inviting writers from all over the country; providing literary stimulation to new generations in the region; and revitalizing active literary research and critical work.
