Heo Manha

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Heo Manha (born 1932) is a Korean poet. He was a professor of medicine for decades, and after he retired, he actively published poetry collections and received many literary awards. His poems contemplate nature, reason history and explore the source of existence.

Contents

Life

Youth

He was born in 1932 in Daegu. When he was a teenager, he wanted to be a physicist after seeing a Japanese physicist, Hideki Yukawa, receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering neutrons, determined to surpass Japan as a scientist. But he faced his own limitation and gave up on physics and went to a medical school, instead. He became seriously interested in literature as he took a literary class at college. What made him attracted to poetry was the fact that it allowed him to explore a world beyond the cause-and-effect relationship, as opposed to pathology that is a mechanism separating self and the other. Particularly, he was immerged in reading Rilke’s poems and studied the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, deeply plunging into existentialism. [1]

Works after his debut

He debuted as a poet in 1957 when he received recommendation for his poems “Gwasil (과실 Fruits),” “Nalgae (날개 Wings)” and “Kkot (꽃 Flowers).” But after his first poetry collection, Haejo (해조 Seaweeds) was published in 1969, he stopped writing poems for about 30 years. It was because he focused on his career as a professor of a medical school while doing research on pathology for decades after he graduated from college with honors. When he retired from the professorship, he actively began to release poetry collections. [2] As soon as his second collection, Bineun sujikeuro seoseo jungneunda (비는 수직으로 서서 죽는다 Rain Falls Plumb Down), was released in 1999, he received favorable comments from the literary critics and the media and won many literary awards for his collections he published for the next 3–4 years. [3] He published many poetry collections including Yasaengui kkot (야생의 꽃 Wild Flowers) (2006), Badaui seongbun (바다의 성분 What the Ocean Consists of) (2009) and an essay collection titled Cheongmapunggyeong (청마풍경 Landscape with a Blue Horse) (2005).[ citation needed ]

Writing

Science meets art

The basic of pathology, observation and analysis, is the framework of Heo’s poetry. [4] His poems often use a motif of vast nature, such as a stratum, cliff, slope, fossil and the ocean, which has been preserved from time immemorial. In the poem, “Haejo (해조 Seaweed)” in Seaweeds (1969), he is reminded of the time when he served in the Korean War while seeing the seaweeds that has dried up on rocks. In another poem, “Jicheung (지층 Strata),” he traces the chronicle of human beings who have fought with stone axes since the primitive ages. [5]

His imagination that arises from his observing nature and tracing the history back to the origins is supported by a wealth of scientific knowledge. For example, in “Donggiui bawi (동기의 바위 Sibling’s Rock)” in Wild Flowers (2006), he illustrates rocks in association with siblings based on the proportion of silicon in his blood. And given the fact that the iron in human’s blood is red, he says that the sunset of the Paleozoic era flows in his blood vessel. Like this, Heo has established a distinguished poetic world of his own based on scientific knowledge and his literary imagination beyond that. [6]

Language of verticality

As time passes, nature is continuously created and disappears. Rain Falls Plumb Down (1999) illustrates his sense of futility as anything on earth is present temporarily and ceases to exist after all. However, raindrops disappear in vain, yet, leave rain prints behind on rocks. In “Ujue mongmareum (우주의 목마름 Thirst of the Universe)” the poets reads the last will of life carved by raindrops as he watches rain prints from the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic Era. And by capturing the ephemeral existence of an object, the poet tries to give meaning to the things becoming extinct. Just like a bird that soars up vertically against gravity, he also dreams of poetic ascent beyond the principle of causality of this world. [7]

In order to penetrate into an object and testify its fundamental being, a poet needs to discover a new language. Heo rules out cliché and an ordinary language and explores existence by defamiliarizing language. [8] In the title poem, "Siui gyejeoleun gyeoulida (시의 계절은 겨울이다 The Season of Poetry is Winter)" of the poetry collection with the same title, the poet describes himself as a “fragile language that seeks for the world’s extreme.” It is natural that “the season of poetry is winter” because poetry always leaves its center to be headed for the periphery. However, the poet believes that his language sprouts out just like grass in spring. [9]

Awards

Works

Anthologies

Poetry collections

Poetics

Literary Coterie, Co-authored Collection

Essay Collections

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References

  1. ↑ Jo, Yongho. “The Power of Poetry is in Isolation – Appreciation to the edge of Mind,” Segye Ilbo. June 25, 2018. http://www.segye.com/newsView/20180625004491?OutUrl=naver
  2. ↑ Jo, Yongho. “The Power of Poetry is in Isolation – Appreciation to the edge of Mind,” Segye Ilbo. June 25, 2018.
  3. ↑ Yun, Yeojin “Heo Manha’s 7th Collection: More Passionate for Writing Poetry Right Before He Becomes 90,” Busan Ilbo. July 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ Heo, Manja. Book Review in Camels Can Smell Water from Far Away. Sol, 2000.
  5. ↑ Choi, Rayoung. “A Study on the Poetics of Hur Man-Ha - Focused on ‘the World with Will’ and the ‘Aesthetic Intuition’” Comparative Literature, Vol. 77, 2019.
  6. ↑ Choi, Rayoung. "A Study on the Poetics of Hur Man-Ha - Focused on 'the World with Will' and the 'Aesthetic Intuition'" Comparative Literature, Vol. 77, 2019.
  7. ↑ Song, Seungwhan. "A Study on Heo Man Ha's Poetry," The Studies of Korean Literature, Vol. 26, 2009.
  8. ↑ Heo, Manha. Book Review in Starlight before Language, Sol, 2018
  9. ↑ Heo, Manha. Book Review in The Season of Poetry is Winter, Munye Joongang, 2013
  10. ↑ Choi, Hakrim. “Much-needed Rain in the Exhausted Literary Society,” Busan Ilbo. May 21, 1999.
  11. ↑ Choi, Hakrim. “Heo Manha, Winner of the First Park Yongrae Literary Award – His Passion and Two Poetry Collections, Reflecting His Deep Consciousness,” Busan Ilbo. November 12, 1999.
  12. ↑ Previous Winner of the Society of Korean Poets Award
  13. ↑ “Heo Manha, Winner of the 15th Isan Literature Prize,” Yonhap News. August 11, 2003.
  14. ↑ Bae, Dongjin. “Hwang Byeonggi, Cheon Sangbyeong, Heo Manha, Cho Yongpil Won the Cultural Medals - Ministry of Culture and Tourism Released the List of Winners,” Busan Ilbo. October 20, 2003.
  15. ↑ Choi, Hakrim & Lee, Seonghun. “Poet Heo Manha Won the Choengma Literary Award,” Busan Ilbo. February 04, 2004
  16. ↑ Choi, Hakrim. “Poet Heo Manha Won the Yi Yuksa Poetry Prize,” Busan Ilbo. September 05, 2006
  17. ↑ Kim, Geonsu. “Poet Heo Manha Won the Mogwol Literature Prize, Park Sangu Won Dongri Literary Award,” Busan Ilbo. November 23, 2009
  18. ↑ Kim, Yeonghan. “Poet Heo Manha Won the National Academy of Arts Award,” Buan Ilbo, July 05, 2014.
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