Koreans and Nigerians in the Federal Capital Territory on Friday celebrated Korean literary icon, Han Kang, for winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Nobel Prize in Literature is an award to a writer who created outstanding work that benefits humanity and is idealistic in nature.

The prize is one of six Nobel prizes awarded annually to people who made significant discoveries or progress in their fields.

It is awarded based on literary quality. The winner is someone who writes excellent literature that has power and development that continues in all of their books.

The 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Kang, a 53 -year- old South Korea author for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.

The announcement was made by the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 10 and she was awarded on December 10. She is the first Korean writer and the eighteenth woman to win the award with her numerous novels.

In 2016, she won the ‘International Booker Prize’ for her novel “The Vegetarian.”

The event was organised by Korea Cultural Centre in Nigeria, Abuja.

It was aimed at celebrating and honouring Ms Kang’a remarkable feat and lasting impact on Korean and Nigerian cultures and values that she had advanced in the literary world.

Speaking at the event, KCCN Cultural Event Manager, YunJin Lee, said that the event focussed on the celebration of the writer’s recognition over the world and her humble personality.

Ms Lee said that recognising her recent achievement would help to promote Korean culture, by focusing on her two major works “The Vegetarian” and “Human Acts.”

“What we are doing today is more than a literary event; we are here not to only introduce her work but also want to seek people’s opinions on what her work meant to them. We are commemorating her in KCCN because there are more things we can exchange and communicate based on her works,” she said.

The event  manager further said that  the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize  recognised Ms Kang’s works and named her the winner of 2024 Nobel literature prize due to her outstanding poetic expression of  human traumas.

“I think that is really the important point because we are facing and experiencing different things in our daily lives because our culture is different. But the author did not only capture the historical events in her viewpoint, but she brought it more on a personal basis with the nobel characters, which was really talking about humanity and trauma,” she said.

Artistic Director, Arojah Royal theatre, Jerry Adesewo, said that people talked about obscurity when she was announced as the winner.

According to Mr Adesewo, it’s understandable from their viewpoints because the book is not  available in the country.

She said, “When she won,  I came to the centre and I told them there is a need to  commemorate the victory of Han Kang whether she is here in person or not. I am sure that nobody anywhere in the world had imagined that Kang would win such a prize. A lot of people, not just in Nigeria, were expecting Thich Nhat Hanh or  Kenyan writer  Ngugi Wa Thiong’o to win the Nobel prize.’’

The artistic director added that this kind of event was promotional because it drew attention of people to what she had done, and the advantage it could have for both Korean and Nigerian literature.

He said, “The advantage I personally see for Nigerian and Korean literature will be the possibility of literary exchange between both countries. For nine years, we organised the Korean-Nigeria Poetry Festival, the whole essence of it is to have shared humanity experiences. It did not happen, but I think that this victory and achievement of Kang will probably propel the organisations to look into that direction.’’

He further said that Korea had one of the biggest translation machinery one could think of.

He stated, “They are good at translating their work to English for a wider audience. When Nigerians decide to do such, the benefit will be more to them than to us if we are not careful, because we have not promoted indigenous writing enough. Korea has it in any work they need to translate, I am very sure they have it. They have the fund because they put a lot of fund into research.’’

A poet and novelist, Ahmed Maywake, said that Kang’s unique style of writing actually distinguished the Korean writer.

Ms Maywake said that such a unique way of writing showed her quality as a Nobel candidate or worthy writer.

According to him, Kang writes in a legible language, which translation comes in a simple language, but not a language for children.

She said, “Her books do not have any hard words, but I observed that her works are meant for adults not for children, because a child can get lost while reading her books. She is a technical writer, as lecturer of literature. The manner in which she displays her works, seeing her major characters coming around and the psychological x-ray on humanity.’’

The Public Relations Officer of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Abuja chapter, Esther Adelana, said that the association was aimed at encouraging cross literature between Korea and Nigeria.

Ms Adelana said that to achieve such, the association decided to organise monthly reading   for the promotion of Nigerian writers.

“We look forward to having international conversations that promote literature from different areas like the one that KCCN is currently doing,” she said.

(NAN)