Song Ji-hyun, winner of the 2026 Kim Seungok Literary Award grand prize. [Photo by Song Jae-rang, courtesy of Munhakdongne]
Song Ji-hyun, winner of the 2026 Kim Seungok Literary Award grand prize. [Photo by Song Jae-rang, courtesy of Munhakdongne]

Writer Song Ji-hyun's short story "A Job She Does Better Than Anyone" has been selected as the winner of the 2026 Kim Seungok Literary Award.

Publisher Munhakdongne announced Friday that judges reviewed 141 short stories published by writers with at least 10 years of literary experience, covering works released between July last year and June this year, before reaching the decision.

The judges said the story "illuminates women who fought for survival on their own within an irreversibly collapsed familism and a patriarchy already rotting from within. It neither strips away hatred nor romanticizes love, nor does it dress up the women's various flawed personalities in the guise of sublime motherhood." They added that "this work, which presents a new style of distinctly original family fiction, earned broad support from judges across all generations."

Song made her literary debut in 2013 through the Dong-A Ilbo's New Year literary contest. She has published the short story collections "In the Manner of an Epilogue, So to Speak," "What We Eat in Summer" and "Kimjang," the novella "Shall We Take a Detour Today," and the essay collection "Donghae Lifestyle." She has received the Hankook Ilbo Literary Award, the Heo Gyun Literary Writer Award and the Tomorrow's Korean Writer Award, among others.

Six works received the excellence prize: Park Seo-ryeon's "A Story of Transformation," Seo Yu-mi's "New Year's Concert," Ahn Bo-yun's "Without a Curtain Call," Lim Hyeon's "You Are My Story," Jeong Yong-jun's "The Meter Reader" and Jeong I-hyeon's "Failure Story Crew."

The grand prize winner receives 50 million won ($35,900), and the awards ceremony is scheduled to be held in Suncheon in November.


pink@heraldcorp.com