Moon In-soo

Moon In-soo (born 1945) is a South Korean poet.
Life.
Moon In-soo was born in June 1945 in Seongju County, North Gyeongsang Province. He studied Korean literature at Dongguk University but dropped out. He began his literary career in 1985 when he published (능수버들 A Weeping Willow) in Shimsang. He has published poetry collections, (늪에 늪이 젖듯이 As the Swamp Becomes Wet in the Swamp), (세상 모든 길은 집으로 간다 All Roads Lead to Home), (뿔 The Horn), (홰치는 산 The Fluttering Mountain), (동강의 높은 새 The High Bird of Donggang), Shh! (쉬!), (배꼽 The Bellybutton), (적막 소리 The Sound of Silence), (그립다는 말의 긴 판 Writing How I Miss You On a Long Panel), (달북), and (나는 지금 이곳이 아니다 I'm Not Here Now). He has won the 14th Daegu Literary Award in 1996, the 11th Kim Daljin Literary Prize in 2000, the 3rd Nojak Literature Prize in 2003, the 11th Poetry and Poetics Award in 2006, the 17th Pyeon-un Literature Award in 2007, and the 10th Korea Catholic Literature Award for Poetry in 2007, as well as the Midang Literary Award in the same year.
Writing.
From his early works, Moon In-soo well showed his ability for in depth observation and thoughts on nature and objects. His observations and thoughts gave rise to a style of poetry that is speculative and meditative. He writes poetry in a controlled and compressed manner, with rich lyricism in the background, which results in a short form of poetry. Therefore, in a traditional sense, he can be called a lyric poet. Meanwhile, his poetry also includes criticism for materialism and endless sympathy for those cast out from the modern society. Recently, through (달북), he has borrowed from the form of sijo, showing more of his capacity for poetry in laying out his skills in compression and control. In his most recent collection (나는 지금 이곳이 아니다 I'm Not Here Now), through the concept of 'cheerfulness', he is exploring the path for positivity on life. On the above collection, poet Ra Heeduk has said in her recommendation that Moon In-soo's poetry is "an earnest prayer from the bottom, and a beautiful dedication to the air above."