Han Kang was born in Gwangju in 1970. Since the age of ten, She grew up in Suyuri, Seoul after her family moved there. She studied Korean literature at Yonsei University. She made her literary debut as a poet by publishing five poems, including “Winter in Seoul”, in the winter issue of Munhak-gwa-sahoe (Literature and Society) in 1993. She began her career as a novelist the next year by winning the 1994 Seoul Shinmun Spring Literary Contest with “Red Anchor”. She published her first short story collection entitled Yeosu (Munji Publishing Company) in 1995. She participated in the University of Iowa International Writing Program for three months in 1998 with support from the Arts Council Korea.

Her publications include a short story collection, "Fruits of My Woman" (2000), "Fire Salamander" (2012); novels such as "Black Deer" (1998), "Your Cold Hands" (2002), "The Vegetarian" (2007), "Breath Fighting" (2010), and "Greek Lessons" (2011), "Human Acts" (2014), "The White Book" (2016), "I Do Not Bid Farewell" (2021). A poem collection, "I put the evening in the drawer" (2013) was published as well.

She won the 25th Korean Novel Award with the novella, “Baby Buddha” in 1999, the 2000 Today’s Young Artist Award by Culture Ministry Korea, the 2005 YiSang Literary Award with “Mongol Spot”, and the 2010 Dongri Literary Award with "The Wind is Blowing". She was awarded Manhae literary prize for "Human Acts" (2014) and Hwang Sun-won literary award (2015) for the novella While One Snowflake Melts. Her recent novella, "Farewell" won the Kim Yujung Literary Prize.(2018).

"The Vegetarian" won the 2016 Man Booker International Prize. "Atti umani" (Human Acts) won the 2017 Malaparte Prize in Italy. Her most recent novel, "I Do Not Bid Farewell" was awarded Medicis prize in France in 2023 and the Émile Guimet prize in 2024. Also in 2024, Kang became the 18th woman and first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

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