Yi Munjae (born 1959) is a South Korean poet and professor. He is described as a poet who expresses "environmental imagination" in his literature. He also critiques contemporary literature, and currently writes a column in the . He is a creative writing professor at Kyung Hee University. Life Yi Munjae is a South Korean poet and professor. He is described as a poet who expresses "environmental imagination" in his literature. He also critiques contemporary literature, and currently writes a column in the . He was born in Gimpo, Gyeonggi-do (currently Seo-gu, Incheon), and graduated from Kyung Hee University in Korean Literature. He began his literary career in 1982 while still a university student by publishing ( Our Old Home's Roof) on the 4th issue of Siundong. He has published poetry collections, ( When I Take Off My Wet Shoe and Show It to the Sun), ( The Backwoods of the Mind), and essay collections ( Busy is Lazy), ( The Poems and Poets I’ve Met). Previously he worked as an adjunct professor in creative writing at Chugye University for the Arts, and as a news director at Sisa journal. Currently he is the executive editor at Munhakdongne, and editor at the Green Review. He has been awarded the Kimdaljin Literature Prize, the Nojak Literature Prize, the Poetry and Poetics Award, and the Sowol Poetry Award. Writing Yi Munjae is a poet who drew an image of young souls adrift in the real world, with flexible poetic imagination. Early in his career, his poetry described the life of a youth who experiences discord with the world, and aimlessly drifts. His early works reflect the poet's own experiences. In his childhood he moved often, did not have a comfortable life, and was raised under a strict father. Only through daydreaming he could escape such realities. Yi Munjae's early poetry collections heavily reflect such childhood experiences. In his early works, "the road" is an important image. It gives a glimpse of the poet's own experiences of having had to move often, and ultimately it reflects the poet's desire to imagine an "uncharted road" and newly wander. At the time, Yi Munjae was known as a poet that represents the minds of the young generation that were worried and uncertain of their future, and desired to wander. Meanwhile, after ( The Backwoods of the Mind), his poetry has been praised as expressing environmental imagination.