Eun Hee-kyung

Eun Heekyung (; born in 1959) is a South Korean writer.

Life Eun was born in Gochang, Jeollabuk-do in 1959. She did her undergraduate degree in literature at Sookmyung Women's University, and her graduate degree in the same field at Yonsei University, both in Seoul. She also discovered that other students were sometimes reading her diary, and for this reason she began to intersperse into it made up stories or lines aimed at specific readers.

Eun's father was a carpenter who employed many workers. Eun noted that when these workers spoke directly to her father they spoke entirely differently from when they spoke behind his back. They also betrayed, intrigued and fought with each other, and Eun particularly remembers a carpenter running off with a cook. Eun saw these things as indicative of the warmth of human relationships between imperfect humans. which portrayed the world of adults through the skeptical eyes of a twelve-year-old narrator. Since her debut she has written 10 books, including six collections of short stories and four novels. Secrets and Lies, published in 2005, is the three-generation story of two interrelated families.

Just like the character Jinhee, Eun's work is characterized by these two traits: cynicism and contempt. Regardless of their present circumstances, the characters who populate Eun's fiction observe themselves and the world around them in a cold, unforgiving light; their only means of protection is through self-disparagement. For Eun, all ideologies seem suspicious and are open to ridicule. Families, romantic love, rationality, power and prestige—without fail, they each fall under Eun's intense suspicion. In 2012 her story "Discovery of Solitude" was chosen by LTI Korea as one of three short stories to be the subject of their LTI Essay competition.

In 2014, she participated in the International Writing Program's Fall Residency at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA.

Works in translation English Poor Man's Wife, (2013) My Wife's Boxes in Unspoken Voices (한국 여성작가 12인 단편선 ) Beauty Looks Down on Me in "Azalea", Issue 2, 2008, p. 201 Other El regalo del ave, Emecé, 2009 La stanza di mia moglie, Cafoscarina, 2004 Ein Geschenk des Vogels, Pendragon, 2005 Les Boîtes de ma femme, Zulma, 2009 Das Schöne verschmäht mich (아름다움이 나를 멸시한다 ) Тайна и ложь (비밀과 거짓말 ) 汉城兄弟 (마이너 리그) 鸟的礼物 (새의 선물) Cocktail sugar et autres nouvelles de Corée (한국 여성문학 단편선) Le cadeau de l'oiseau (새의 선물) Qui a tendu un piege dans la pinede par une journee fleurie (상속)

Awards Munhak Dongne Literature Award (1996) Dongseo Literature Award (1997) Yi Sang Literary Award (1998) Korean Literature Award for Fiction (2000) Hanguk Ilbo Literature Award (2002) Dong-in Literary Award (2007) Korean Literature Award (2008)

Works in Korean (partial) Duet (이중주), 1995 A Gift From a Bird (새의 선물), 1995 Talking to a Stranger (타인에게 말걸기), 1996 Save the Last Dance for Me (마지막 춤은 나와 함께), 1998 Was it a Dream? (그것은 꿈이었을까), 1999 Nobody Checks the Time When They’re Happy (행복한 사람은 시계를 보지 않는다), 1999 Minor League (마이너 리그), 2001 Secrets and Lies (비밀과 거짓말), 2005 Beauty Looks Down on Me (아름다움이 나를 멸시한다), 2007 Past of Light (빛의 과거), 2019