Atop a Straight Line) he writes that he saw “a road so decisive that it saw right through me”, and that road is “supporting with all its body a scratched life”. This shows that the poet is attempting to find that definite ‘road’. In his second poetry collection, Geuneulgwa sagwida (그늘과 사귀다 Making Friends with the Shade), his understanding of death is evident. He examines death, and thereby throws questions on life. He describes funerals and memorial rituals in detail, studying how the lives of the dead and the living overlap. Through this, the poet shows that within the process of funeral rites and the symbolic meaning of traditional life, there is an integration of life and death. The poet’s interest on death continued toward the third poetry collection Apeun cheonguk (아픈 천국 The Sick Heaven). However, here his understanding of death became an occasion for the poet to compose his will to live on freely and fully. His most recent poetry collection Namuneun ganda (나무는 간다 The Tree is Going), his interest in social issues is evident. If his past collection was depicted as an occasion for him to look back on life by the way of ‘death’, Namuneun ganda (나무는 간다 The Tree is Going) is a story of those that have died wrongly due to social injustice. With his unique sensibility, he faces the cruel reality that gives rise to unjust deaths, and fiercely rebukes society filled with contradiction. Despite that, Lee Yeong-gwang’s poetry is on another level than simple social criticism. That is because by directly looking at death, he expresses faith for nurturing new hope, placing his work at a higher level of poetry. Works Poetry collections Jikseon wi-eseo tteolda (직선 위에서 떨다 Shivering Atop a Straight Line), Changbi, 2003. Geuneulgwa sagwida (그늘과 사귀다 Making Friends with the Shade), Random House Korea, 2007. Apeun cheonguk (아픈 천국 The Sick Heaven), Changbi, 2010. Namuneun ganda (나무는 간다 The Tree is Going), Changbi, 2013. Miscellaneous Sireumgwa gyeongi (시름과 경이 Anxiety and Wonder), Cheonnyeonui sijak, 2012. Holim tteolim ulim (홀림 떨림 울림 Possession Vibration Reverberation) Nanam, 2013. Awards 2008 Nojak Literature Prize 2011 Jihoon Prize (Literature Prize) 2011 Midang Literary Award Further reading Shin, Hyeongcheol, A Union of Feelings, 2011. References 1965 births Living people 21st-century South Korean poets South Korean male poets 21st-century male writers