Origins & Early Life

Kyung-sook Shin, also Shin Kyung-sook or Shin Kyoung-sook (Korean: 신경숙, born 12 January 1963), is a South Korean writer. She was the only South Korean and only woman to win the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012 for Please Look After Mom. Kyung-sook Shin was born in 1963 in a village near Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province in southern South Korea. She was the fourth child and oldest daughter of six.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

At sixteen she moved to Seoul, where her older brother lived. She worked in an electronics plant while attending night school. She made her literary debut in 1985 with the novella Winter’s Fable after graduating from the Seoul Institute of the Arts as a creative writing major. Along with Kim Insuk and Gong Ji-young, Kyung-sook Shin is one of the group of female writers known as the 386 Generation. Kyung-sook Shin won the Munye Joongang New Author Prize for her novella Winter Fables.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

She has won a wide variety of literary prizes, including the Today’s Young Artist Award from the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Hankook Ilbo Literature Prize; Hyundae Literature Award; Manhae Literature Prize; Dong-in Literary Award; Yi Sang Literary Award; and the Oh...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke — Contemporary (Died in 1963) (1963): British Field Marshal and Chief of the Imperial General Staff during WWII.
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• 1963 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1963
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