Gong Ji-young

Gong Ji-young (; born 31 January 1963 in Seoul) is a South Korean novelist and journalist. Her popular novels are "My Sister Bongsoon" (2002), "Our Happy Time" (2005) and "The Crucible" (2009). She is considered a pioneer of Korean feminism. Since the mid 1990s, she has been considered one of the most eminent Korean female writers. She is gaining in popularity, especially among female readers. Her books have sold more than nine million copies.
Early literary career.
In 1985, Gong Ji-Young received her Bachelor's in Arts in Literature from Yonsei University. At that time she worked as a writer at a publishing company and at The Council of Writers for Freedom and Practice, which is now called The Writers Association of Korea (WAK). She has participated in demonstration for Korea's democracy in the 1980s. She was sent to a detention center for joining anti-vote rigging demonstration and decided to become a writer. In 1988, she made a literary debut through her novel "Dawn". In the middle of the 1990s, her novels "Mackerel", "Human Decency" and "Go Alone Like the Rhinoceros' Horn" were on the bestseller list concurrently. In the early 2000s, she sold her novel "My Sister Bongsoon" for almost 1.6 million volumes.
Current work.
Gong Ji-Young divorced three times and has raised three children. The children's last names are all different. To pay for her children's loans, she made a comeback after seven years and released "Our Happy Time"(2005). The novel was made into a feature film with a total of over four million viewers. After having published "The Crucible" (2009), the novel was made into a feature film (2011) raising public interest in the rights of disabled students. She was awarded the Lee-sang Prize for the 2011 novel "Wander an Alley in Barefoot".
Awards.
Gong received several awards for her work: