Sim Sang-dae


Sim Sang-dae is a South Korean writer. He began his literary career when he published "Myosachong", "Mukhoreul aneunga", and "Suchaehwa gamsang", all at the same time on Korea's quarterly publication, World Literature. In the same year, he published his first collection, Mukhoreul aneunga, and later published more collections such as Myeongokheon and Tteollim. After 2006 he took a hiatus, and in 2013 he returned to the literary world with the web novel Nappeun bom published on Naver, which happens to be his first novel. He has won the 46th Hyundae Literary Award, and the 6th Kim Yujung Literary Award.

Life

Sim Sang-dae was born in 1960 Gangneung, Gangwondo. He graduated from Gangneung Jeil High School and Korea University in archaeology & art history. As a peculiar background in his career, he had changed his pen name twice. At first, he had used his real name ‘Sim Sang-dae’, but as he published his serial story Tteollim in 2000, he changed his pen name to ‘Marsyas Sim’. He has said that this was to show his aspiration to ‘be bold in front of art, just like the artist in the legend who attempted to contest Apollo, the son of Zeus, in the arts’. Later, because it sounded like his name ‘Sang-dae’, he added the name ‘Sunday’, changing it again to ‘Sunday Marsyas Sim’. From the time of publishing Nappeun bom, he is using his real name again.

Writing

Sim Sang-dae's most distinguished characteristic is his ability to balance aesthetic stance and narrative completion. From his three debut works, "Myosachong", "Mukhoreul aneunga", and "Suchaehwa gamsang", he is said to have "shown very different looks in terms of the actual story in each work, despite all of them showing excellent sense of language and technical skill". In his first collection that was published in 1990, Mukhoreul aneunga, there are 11 stories that each has a different color. These are such as "Myosachong" and "Gang", which have strong aestheticism; "Huibokssiui Budongsan" and "Yagobui oechul", which are categorized under realism; "Mukhoreul aneunga", which has a lyrical tone; "Mondeuriangwa roseukoreul wihan guseong", which shows experimental form and composition; and "Yangpungjeon", which bases itself on deep exploration of the story itself. For that, critic Kang Sang-hui, who had given commentary on Sim Sang-dae's second collection Myeongokheon, has called Sim Sang-dae as the "storytelling aestheticist."
Sim Sang-dae's works either have different tones from one another, or there are cases where in one work there is a coexistence of elements of different tones. However, it is not that there isn't an element that permeates through all of his works. In general, he portrays a longing for life where people truly bond with each other, where people live with dignity, a world before civilization and the order of reason, where the vigorous and wild breath of life unique to humans still live and breathe. And he has continued this toward works such as the serial Tteollim, which deals with indulgence of wild sexuality, or Nappeun bom, which discusses the problems of a collective, where everyone shares the same thought and mind.

Works

Nappeun bom, 2014.Simmiju-uija, 2005.Baljji, 2002.Myeongokheon, 2001.Tteollim, 2000.Neukdaewaui inteobyu, 1999.Saranggwa insaenge gwanhan yeodeol pyeonui soseol, 1998.Mukhoreul aneunga, 1990.

Awards