Choi Si-han
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Choi Si-han (Hangul 최시한; born 1952) is a South Korean writer, Korean literature scholar, and educator known for his emphasis on storytelling in the classroom.[1] His breakthrough work is Modu areumdaun aideul (모두 아름다운 아이들 All Beautiful Children), a Bildungsroman written in the form of diary entries portraying the confusion and anguish of youths in South Korea's rigid education system.[2]
Choi Si-han was born in Boryeong, South Korea in 1952.[3] Keenly interested in literature as a high school student, he was the president of his school's literature club and aspired to study Korean literature in university. He enrolled in the Korean literature program at Sogang University, where he found his passion in theatre and actively took part in student productions as an actor and director. Due to financial need, however, he began pursuing a career in teaching. He submitted his manuscripts to writing contests in the meantime but found little success. It is during this period that he earned his master's and doctoral degrees in Korean literature at Sogang University. In 1982, he finally made his literary debut with his short story “Naktaui gyeoul” (낙타의 겨울 The Camel's Winter). Caught between teaching and writing, he focused his energies on the former, as he confessed in one interview.[4] His achievements as a literary educator tends to be more recognized than his achievements as a writer. He teaches Korean language and literature at Sookmyung Women's University and was also head of the storytelling department for interdisciplinary majors.[5]