South Korea's Han Kang wins 2024 Nobel Prize in literature

The Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee has made the announcement for 2024’s Nobel Prize in literature winner in Stockholm: Han Kang, pleasantly surprising South Koreans. Winning numerous fans outside of South Korea, Han has quite a few translated works that includes ‘The Vegetarian’.

Han has secured the place of being the first South Korean to be honoured with the most prestigious literary award of the world. This award is South Africa’s second Nobel Prize after former president Kim Dae-jung’s Nobel Peace Prize in 2000. He has honoured with the award for his endeavors towards nurturing democracy while improving relations with North Korea.

Swedish Academy Permanent secretary Mats Malm said Han has been recognized for “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

The Swedish committee added, “In her oeuvre, Han confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connection between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose.”

Han stated, “I am grateful for being chosen as the laureate. The amount of warm words of congratulations that poured in throughout the day like an enormous wave surprised me.”