A writer true to his word

Veteran South Korean novelist combines an approach that is young at heart with stories that reflect modern stresses, Yang Yang reports.

On Douban, an online review platform, readers praise the Chinese translation of At Dusk by South Korean author Hwang Seok-yeong. They note that despite the author being in his 70s when he wrote the novel, it exudes a youthful vigor, devoid of any hints of aging.

That is the impression one can easily glean from a recent event at the Korean Cultural Center in Beijing. At 81, Hwang uses a cane but this, he stresses, is due to a recent ankle sprain, not his age. Quick-witted and articulate, he speaks in a resonant and powerful voice. The audience, many in their 20s and 30s, filled the multimedia hall on a freezing December afternoon, breaking into laughter and applause during his address.

Chinese writer Zhi An said at the event that, unlike many other veteran writers, Hwang's style has not become slick with the passing years. Instead, it has grown more vigorous and profound. Hwang's work always possesses strength and dignity, he added.

"Though not immediately visible, this backbone is firm beneath the surface," Zhi An says.

At this often-asked question about whether his writing style had changed with age, Hwang answers that "the essence of my writing has never changed".

He recalls a moment at the second Liangzhu Forum he attended in late November in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. It was organized under the theme of "Exchange and Mutual Learning and the New Form of Human Civilization" and was co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the local government. At the event, a Chinese writer said in a speech that the source of culture is the people.

"The source of culture is of course the people, but I had forgotten this for a long time. This trip to China has been very uplifting, reminding me of essential things I had neglected due to laziness," Hwang says.