South Korean author Han Kang has won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to 53-year-old South Korean novelist Han Kang for his “intense poetic prose that confronts historical trauma and reveals the fragility of human life”. His works include The Vegetarian, The White Book, Human Acts and Greek Texts.

“I was able to speak to Han Kang on the phone,” said Mats Malm, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, after the winner was announced. “He seemed to be having a normal day – just finished dinner with his son. He wasn't really ready for it, but we started discussing preparations for December” – when Hahn will be awarded the Nobel Prize.

Hahn's novels, novellas, essays, and collections of short stories explore various themes of patriarchy, violence, grief, and humanity. His 2007 novel The Vegetarian, translated into English by Deborah Smith in 2015, won the Booker International Prize in 2016.

Han is the first South Korean author and the 18th woman to win the award Nobel committee chair Anders Olsson said, “His empathy for the vulnerable, often vulnerable lives of women is palpable, and reinforced by his metaphorically charged prose.” “He has a unique awareness of the connection between body and soul, the living and the dead, and has become an innovator in contemporary prose in a poetic and experimental style.”

“I have long known that Han Kang is one of the most profound and accomplished writers working on the contemporary world stage,” says novelist Deborah Levy. “Well done, dear Han Kang, I am so happy that you are our 2024 Nobel.”

Novelist Max Porter, who edited Smith's translation of The Vegetarian, called Han “a writer of vital voice and extraordinary humanity. His work is a gift to us all. I am thrilled that he has been recognized by the Nobel Committee. New readers will discover his miracles and be changed by him.”

According to novelist Émile McBride, Hahn is “one of the greatest living writers”. “She is a voice for women, for truth and above all for the power of literature. It's a well-deserved win.”

Han was born in 1970 in Gwangju, a city in southwestern South Korea. When he was 10 years old, his family moved to the Suyu-dong area of ​​Seoul. He studied Korean literature at Yonsei University in the capital.

In 1993, Han made his literary debut with a series of five poems published in the Korean magazine Literature and Society. The following year he won a story, Red Anchor, in the Seoul Shinmun Spring Literary Contest.

His first collection of short stories, Love of Jesus, was published in 1995. In 1998 he participated in the University of Iowa International Writing Program for three months supported by the Arts Council Korea.

The Vegetarian is his first novel translated into English. Although the translation was criticized, it won the International Booker Prize and helped Hahn gain a worldwide readership.

Author Boyd Tonkin, who chaired the 2016 International Booker judging panel, wrote in an X-Post eight years ago, “Media scofflaws mocked our choice of 'vague' Koreans. But readers loved it.” Now, “many more will discover this unique vision and voice”, he added.

Han's latest novel, We Do Not Part, will be published in English in 2025, translated by E Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris. The story follows a writer who discovers the impact of the 1948-49 Jeju Rebellion on his friend's family. The French translation of the novel won the Prix Medicis Etrangere in 2023.

“What a great moment this is for those who love Han Kang and his work,” said Simon Prosser, publishing director at Hamish Hamilton, Han's UK publisher. “In writing of extraordinary beauty and clarity he confronts the painful question of what it means to be human—to be a species capable of acts of cruelty and love at the same time. He sees and thinks and feels like no other writer.”