Born in 1912 in Jeongju, North Pyeong’an Province, Paek Sok (penname of Paek Ki-haeng) studied English literature (BA) at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan. After making his literary debut with the publication of his poem “Jeongju Fortress” in the daily Chosun Ilbo in 1935, he published in the following year his first poetry anthology, Deer, which depicts local color and traditional Korean ethos in a beautiful language. In 1957, the poet published The Four Hermit Crab Brothers, a collection of narrative poems for children. Noted for a unique poetics based on oral narratives and local color, he is reported to have remained in his hometown, which is located in present-day North Korea, after the Liberation and to have passed away in 1995. His works published by Changbi include The Complete Poems of Paek Sok and the children’s picture book The Chinese Herring’s Bone.
Changbi Authors
