The Korean Literature Essay Contest, hosted by the Korean Language Program at UC Berkeley, offers students a unique opportunity to engage with Korean literature. Since its first contest sponsored by the Korean Literature Translation Institute, this competition encourages participants to read selected Korean literary books and craft insightful review essays. With active engagement from approximately 50 to 100 students annually, it fosters cross-cultural connections and celebrates Korean literary talent. Winners of the contests are announced and awarded at the annual Korean Day in April, where their literary achievements are recognized. Although temporarily paused during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the contest was revived in 2022 with the support of the Center for Korean Studies at Berkeley. As we move forward, we remain committed to promoting a deeper understanding and appreciation of Korean literature among our student community. Check the information on the essay contest of 2024!
Below is the list of books for the essay contest each year.
Year Book title Korean (author) - English title
2011 빛의 제국 (김영하) - Your Republic is Calling You (Young-Ha Kim)
2012 엄마를 부탁해 (신경숙) - Please Look after Mom (Kyung-Sook Shin)
2013 먼 길 (김인숙) - The Long Road (In-Suk Kim)
2014 성탄 특선 (김애란) - Christmas Special (Ae-ran Kim)
2015 우리들의 행복한 시간 (공지영) - Our Happy Time (Ji-Young Kong)
2016 고령화 가족 (천명관) - Modern Family (Myeong-kwan Cheon)
2017 채식주의자 (한강) - The Vegetarian (Kang Han)
2018 홍길동전 (허균) - The Story of Hong Gildong (Gyun Heo)
2019 꽈리열매 세탁공장 (이언호) - Olympic Boulevard (Philip Onho Lee)
2022 아몬드 (손원평) - Almond (Won-Pyung Sohn)
2023 저주토끼 (정보라) - Cursed Bunny (Bora Chung)
2024 로기완을 만났다 (조해진) - I Met Loh Kiwan (Haejin Cho)