Award-winning work
Target Park Min-jeong, Cecil, and Joo-hee
Im Seong-sun · A flock of sheep roaming the corridor and their predators
Im Hyeon and their interests
Jeong Yeong-su · More Human Words
Kim Se-hee · Quiet Days
Choi Jeong-na · Midnight Guests
Park Sang-young, Tears of an Unknown Artist and Zaytun Pasta

Judges Seong Seok-je, Shin Su-jeong, Shin Hyeong-cheol, Lee Jang-wook, and Jeong Yi-hyeon
Sentencing Committee members Noh Tae-hoon, Lee Eun-ji, Lee Jae-kyung, Kim Nyeong, Ahn Ji-young, Lee Ji-eun, and Han Seol

Park Min-jeong, who won the grand prize, has been winning the Kim Jun-seong Literary Award and the Munji Literary Award in succession, and is currently exerting a strong presence in the Korean literary world.
"Cecil, Juhee" is a masterpiece that combines the author's critical awareness from her early works with structural precision. It was selected as the grand prize winner with the comment, "The depth and breadth of this novel, which problematizes the emotions of gender and ethnic hatred and furthermore contemplates the difficult question that differences exist as much as identity as women among the three women living in it, are astonishing" (literary critic Shin Hyeong-cheol).
Lim Seong-sun's "A Flock of Sheep and Their Predators Wandering the Corridor" presents an intriguing glimpse into the collusion between art and capital, with its witty banter and highly readable prose.
Lim Hyeon's "Their Interests" relentlessly explores our inability to be free from the conflicts of interest and loss through the lens of a husband who lost his wife in a bus accident and a driver who accidentally avoided the accident.
Jeong Yeong-su's "More Human Words" depicts, in captivating, sweeping prose, the days of a young couple who, faced with their aunt's sudden decision to end her life through euthanasia, are unable to continue their usual argument and are forced to remain silent.
Kim Se-hee's "Still Days" overlaps the real-world social problems with the company life of a freshman, moving from excitement to disillusionment, and depicts the vivid expressions etched on the faces of people in their twenties and thirties today.
Choi Jeong-na's "Midnight Guests" sensually reveals the materialism inherent in a family by alternating between the conversation of a family gathered in a restaurant and a description of Edward Hopper's painting.
Park Sang-young's "Tears of an Unknown Artist and Zaytun Pasta" vividly depicts the confusion faced by a character with the identity of "gay-film director-failed youth" because of this identity, while also briskly depicting the vitality of youth that never fades away.


★

For the 9th Young Writer's Award in 2018, three young critics, Noh Tae-hoon, Lee Eun-ji, and Lee Jae-kyung, read and discussed hundreds of short stories published in 2017 without exception to select the best works. Critics Kim Nyeong, Ahn Ji-young, Lee Ji-eun, and Han Seol joined them to help with the final selection.
Through this, twenty-two works written by nineteen authors were delivered to the final selection committee (Seong Seok-je, Shin Su-jeong, Shin Hyeong-cheol, Lee Jang-wook, and Jeong I-hyeon).
In the main judging, the judges were quite surprised to find that their overall judging comments were in agreement with each other.
Although familiar authors also produced works that lived up to expectations, the general consensus was that the works of newer authors were more powerful.

The award ultimately went to writer Park Min-jeong, and the judging ended amicably.
This is because many agreed that support and encouragement for this writer's sincerity and intensity should be given now more than ever.


★

Park Min-jeong, "Cecil, Joo-hee" The depth and breadth of this novel, which problematizes the emotions of gender and ethnic hatred and furthermore contemplates the difficult question of the differences that clearly exist among the three women (J, Joo-hee, and Cecil) living in it, as well as their identity as women, are astonishing.
Shin Hyeong-cheol (literary critic)

Joohee felt like she had deceived Cecil.
Cecil, your grandmother and the grandmothers of the victims we're talking about here are a little different... ... Cecil's grandmother is at Yasukuni Shrine... ...
She could never say such things to Cecil, and Joohee felt a little miserable.
"Cecil, shall we take a different route?" Joohee asked Cecil earnestly, and Cecil shook his head.
are you okay.
Just go.
Joohee suddenly remembered herself sitting in a pub in New Orleans. (『Munhakdongne』 Fall 2017 issue)

■ Born in 1985.
Debuted in 2009 when his short story "The Private Life of the Count Saint-Simon" won the New Writer's Award from the Writer's World.
There are short story collections 『When Ghosts Get Bodies』 and 『School for Wives』.
He won the Kim Jun-seong Literary Award and the Munji Literary Award.

Lim Seong-sun, "The Flock of Sheep and Their Predators Wandering the Corridors" has the power to make you read it in an instant.
It is a work that any artist who likes drawing would want to write, but it is not an easy one to write.
The unexpected twists and the fact that it didn't fall into typicality were also commendable.

_Seong Seok-je (novelist)

Modern aesthetics required learning to enjoy because it was conceptual, ideological, and context-sensitive.
And that's why the rich loved it.
Because it was a world beyond the barriers that could never be entered by those without surplus money and time.
Aesthetic sensibility has created a new class. (Munjang Webzine, September 2017)

■ Born in 1976.
Debuted in 2010, winning the World Literature Award for his novel “The Consultant.”
The novels include 『Moon Geun-young is Dangerous』, 『Rather Kind People Live There』, 『The Extreme Sea』, and 『The Essentials of Self-Development』.


Lim Hyeon, "Their Interests" Lim Hyeon, with his socialist interests at the core, pushes the ontological limitations of humanity to the limit, riddled with flaws and contradictions, and ultimately, in retrospect, leading to regrets like, "I should have done this."
It can be said that this is a scene that turns from the ethics of value judgment to the ethics of novels.
_Shin Su-jeong (literary critic)

A miracle? A miracle.
If avoiding an accident is a miracle, what about those who didn't?
What is the opposite of a miracle?
Something that defies common sense—isn't that a miracle? So, are you saying it's okay to do it? Are you saying it was all common sense and normal? Are you saying it was just an accident that could happen? (Munjang Webzine, March 2017 issue)

■ Born in 1983.
Debuted in 2014 when his short story "That Dog-Like Word" was selected for the New Writer Recommendation by 『Modern Literature』.
There is a collection of short stories called “Words Like That Dog.”
Won the Young Writer Award in 2017.

Jeong Yeong-su, "More Human Words" This novel is like a house built solidly, step by step, from the cornerstone.
Then, when you reach the end, you suddenly get the feeling that the plot is cut off.
The house that I thought was solid now feels like it's floating in the mist of space.
I look down at the ground I stand on.
_Jeong I-hyeon (novelist)

We are not accustomed to talking about things that are real, things that have a direct connection with us.
Haewon and I felt more comfortable talking about abstract things, things that were far from us.
We could talk for days about the universe's existence, but not about my aunt's death. (『Munhakdongne』, Winter 2017)

■ Born in 1983.
Debuted in 2014 when his short story "Night in Lebanon" won the Changbi New Writer's Award.
There is a collection of short stories titled “The Lovers.”


Kim Se-hee, "Quiet Days" Even without direct contact, we are implicated in numerous social tragedies as accomplices, and "Quiet Days" depicts a section of that landscape with rich realism and restrained emotion.
Lee Jang-wook (novelist, poet)

Until my mid-twenties, I just paid money to learn and accept things.
But now, instead of paying, I received money, and I used my head and fingertips to produce something.
That feeling was so good.
A sense of being useful. (Creation and Criticism, Winter 2017)

■ Born in 1987.
Debuted in 2015 when his short story "Shallow Sleep" won the World Literature New Writer's Award.

Choi Jeong-na, "Guests at Midnight" Although it may not be unprecedented, the way it is pushed forward so boldly and skillfully is impressive, and the technique does not stop at mere technique, but realistically reveals the monstrosity within the relationship of intimacy, so I remembered this author's name with a bewildered feeling.
Shin Hyeong-cheol (literary critic)

I looked up at the glass frame again.
Then I thought the painting had changed a little, but I wasn't sure if it was actually the painting that had changed, if it was me looking at it that had changed, if it was both, or if it was neither.
However, while looking at the painting, thoughts kept adding to my thoughts and new ones were added, so I couldn't tell where the painting ended and where the thoughts began. (『Literature Today』 Winter 2017)

■ Born in 1974.
Debuted in 2016 when his short story "I've Seen It Before" was selected for the Munhwa Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest.

Park Sang-young, "The Tears of an Unknown Artist and Zaytun Pasta" This novel's instinctive rejection of the consumption of minorities as objects of art has a profound appeal.
Wangsha's tragicomic adventure from Arbil to the outskirts of Seoul is a lighthearted yet melancholic youth novel.

Lee Jang-wook (novelist, poet)

If everyone dies or disappears like this, what will remain of my life in the end?
Wang Xia kept asking me questions that I couldn't answer.
I thought maybe that could be me, but I didn't say anything about it.
It seemed like that was exactly what Wang Xia wanted the least. (『Munhakdongne』 Fall 2017 issue)

■ Born in 1988.
Debuted in 2016 when his short story "Looking for Paris Hilton" won the Munhakdongne New Writer's Award.

★

The winners of the Young Writer's Award will each receive a prize of 5 million won and a trophy. If the royalties (10%) of the winning collection exceed the prize money, the excess royalties will be divided equally among all winners.
In line with the purpose of the award to promote young writers, the collection of award-winning works will be sold at a special price for one year after publication.