Poet Lee Young-chun on Loneliness, Motherhood and the Roots of His Work
Creatrip Team
24 days ago
Chuncheon Cultural Foundation launched Season 2 of its Arts & Humanities Academy, “People Who Build Art,” with poet Lee Young-chun as the first speaker on June 30 at Chuncheon Dreaming Arts Center. A poet since 1976, Lee spoke candidly about the loneliness, despair and inferiority that drove him to write—recalling childhood hardship in Bongpyeong (Bongpyeong-myeon) and secret trips to study in Wonju. He said poetry is lived experience and that emotional shocks often become powerful material. Lee discussed works inspired by social pain—such as “Sad Lunchbox” about a student from a broken home, and “Black Eyes, Black Tears” about a boy driven to suicide by debt—and his poem mourning victims of the Uiamho (Uiam Lake) reed-island accident. He emphasized that many of his poems trace back to his mother as their spiritual root, citing pieces like “The Lonely Moon” (about a broken gochujang jar) and “Mother’s River, Her Tears.” Answering questions about creative slumps, Lee advised reading deeply rather than forcing writing, and urged persistent experimentation and passion for literature. The lecture highlighted poetry’s role in giving voice to pain and in honoring personal origins.
