“Reading and Writing Build Character”... Novelist Yae So Yeon at the 650th Thursday Special Lecture
- 25.10.02 / 전윤실
Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) invited novelist Yae So Yeon as the speaker for the 650th Kookmin University Thursday Special Lecture, held on Thursday, September 25th, at the Kookmin University Academic Conference Hall. Ye is the author who won the 48th Lee Sang Literary Award Grand Prize, with representative works including 『That Dog and the Revolution』 and 『Love and Flaws』. In this lecture, she shared with students on the theme 『The Mind That Reads Novels, Novels That Read the Mind』 discussing how reading and writing shape the space within our hearts and the power of novels to enrich individual lives.
Ye began her lecture by introducing her own experience of preparing for the path of a novelist, having been close to writing since childhood. He stated, “I want to write stories about people who can regard failure as life itself,” emphasizing that novels are a genre that captures imbalance and complexity, not merely culminating in logic and conclusions. He further explained, “Reading a novel is practice in acknowledging others' thought patterns and the spectrum of characters,” describing how reading and writing help us understand relationships and process our own emotions.
The lecture extended beyond personal experiences to explore social themes. Yeo introduced the concerns she has addressed in her novels—the value of care work, reflections on death, generational conflict—stating, “Literature broadens our sensory perception of society and serves as a mechanism that prompts us to contemplate a life where everyone can be okay.”
Finally, Ye advised students, “Reading and writing may seem unproductive, but they are ultimately delicate training in understanding oneself and empathizing with others.” She urged them, “Beyond studying solely for employment or achievement, I hope you find your own path through reading and writing that deepens your reflection on life.”
Kookmin University's Thursday Special Lecture, the first and longest-running weekly regular lecture series featuring external speakers in Korea, has hosted approximately 650 speakers from politics, society, science, and culture over the past 30 years. These include former President Roh Moo Hyun, Cardinal Kim Sou Hwan, writer Ryu Si Min, film director Park Chan Wook, National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye Kyun, and U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert.
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This content is translated from Korean to English using the AI translation service DeepL and may contain translation errors such as jargon/pronouns. If you find any, please send your feedback to kookminpr@kookmin.ac.kr so we can correct them.
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“Reading and Writing Build Character”... Novelist Yae So Yeon at the 650th Thursday Special Lecture |
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2025-10-02
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Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) invited novelist Yae So Yeon as the speaker for the 650th Kookmin University Thursday Special Lecture, held on Thursday, September 25th, at the Kookmin University Academic Conference Hall. Ye is the author who won the 48th Lee Sang Literary Award Grand Prize, with representative works including 『That Dog and the Revolution』 and 『Love and Flaws』. In this lecture, she shared with students on the theme 『The Mind That Reads Novels, Novels That Read the Mind』 discussing how reading and writing shape the space within our hearts and the power of novels to enrich individual lives.
Ye began her lecture by introducing her own experience of preparing for the path of a novelist, having been close to writing since childhood. He stated, “I want to write stories about people who can regard failure as life itself,” emphasizing that novels are a genre that captures imbalance and complexity, not merely culminating in logic and conclusions. He further explained, “Reading a novel is practice in acknowledging others' thought patterns and the spectrum of characters,” describing how reading and writing help us understand relationships and process our own emotions.
The lecture extended beyond personal experiences to explore social themes. Yeo introduced the concerns she has addressed in her novels—the value of care work, reflections on death, generational conflict—stating, “Literature broadens our sensory perception of society and serves as a mechanism that prompts us to contemplate a life where everyone can be okay.”
Finally, Ye advised students, “Reading and writing may seem unproductive, but they are ultimately delicate training in understanding oneself and empathizing with others.” She urged them, “Beyond studying solely for employment or achievement, I hope you find your own path through reading and writing that deepens your reflection on life.”
Kookmin University's Thursday Special Lecture, the first and longest-running weekly regular lecture series featuring external speakers in Korea, has hosted approximately 650 speakers from politics, society, science, and culture over the past 30 years. These include former President Roh Moo Hyun, Cardinal Kim Sou Hwan, writer Ryu Si Min, film director Park Chan Wook, National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye Kyun, and U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert.
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