Lee Geum-yi

Lee Geum-yi is a Korean author of children's and young adult literature. Since her debut in 1984, she has written more than fifty literary works. In the early days of her career, she mainly wrote children's stories set in rural areas including Keundori in Bamtee Village, leading her to earn the nickname “the writer of agricultural villages.” Lee's works often explore Korean society and issues involving minorities including women and the disabled. Since the release of her first young adult novel Yujin and Yujin in 2004, Lee has incorporated the lives of teenagers and the varied social and psychological issues they face into her work. Her historical novels Can’t I Go Instead? and The Picture Bride, are works of young adult fiction. In 2018, she was selected for the IBBY Honour List for Can’t I Go Instead? She was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in both 2020 and 2024.
Career
Lee Geum-yi made her official debut as an author in 1984 with Younggu and Heukgu In 2018, she was selected for the IBBY Honour List for Can’t I Go Instead?. In 2020, she was selected as the Korean nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.The Picture Bride , which was published in 2020, is her first novel to be published in English. The Picture Bride and Yujin and Yujin (published in 2004) have been adapted into musicals.The Picture Bride and Yujin and Yujin (published in 2004) have been adapted into musicals.
Awards
2024, 2020 Korean nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award
2018 IBBY Honour List - Can’t I Go Instead?
2017 Bang Jeong-hwan Literary Award - One Night
Adaptations
2022 Musical <Aloha, My Moms〉 (Based upon The Picture Bride)
2021 Webtoon 〈Can't I Go Instead?〉 (Based upon the same title)
2021 Musical 〈Yujin and Yujin〉 (Based upon the same title)
2021 Theater Play 〈Yujin and Yujin〉 (Based upon the same title)
2013 Short Animation for Improving Awareness of the Disabled (Based upon Just Different from Me)
2002 EBS Children Literature in TV Drama: Just Different from Me
2001 KBS TV Drama - Keundori in Bamtee Village
Works
Young adult novels
2020The Picture Bride (Changbi Publishers) ISBN 978-89-364-6576-6
2022 (Forge Books/Macmillan, USA) (trans. An Seonjae) ISBN 978-12-508-0866-0
2022 (Scribe Publications, Australia) (trans. An Seonjae) ISBN 978-19-223-1085-9
2019 Life traveler (Munhakdongne Publishing)
2016 Can’t I Go Instead? (Sakyejul Publishing)
2023 (Forge Books/Macmillan, USA) (trans. An Seonjae)
2022 (そこに私が行ってもいいですか?, 里山社, Japan) (trans. 神谷丹路)
2014 Youth Stories (Sakyejul Publishing)
2014 Searching For the Hidden Path (Prooni Publishing)
2021 (rev.) (Bamtee Publishing)
2013 The Moment Ice Sparkles (Prooni Publishing)
2121 Us, In the Land of the Giants (Prooni Publishing)
2022 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 979-11-91826-05-0
2013 So-hee’s Room (Prooni Publishing)
2021 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 979-11-91826-02-9
2010 A Marionette’s Dance (Prooni Publishing)
2022 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 979-11-91826-19-7
2009 Goodbye, My First Love (Prooni Publishing)
2021 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 979-11-91826-04-3
2008 Cliff (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 979-11-91826-22-7
2008 The Whale in My Pocket (Prooni Publishing)
2021 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 979-11-971205-5-8
2004 Yujin and Yujin (Prooni Publishing)
2020 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 979-11-97120-54-1
2023 (有真与有真 Beijing Yuchen Culture, China)
2011 (Yujin et Yujin Picquier, France)
1999 You Too Are a Twilight Lily (Prooni Publishing)
2021 (Bamtee Publishing, 2021) ISBN 978-89-5798-102-3
Children's fiction
2012 Pet Food for You (Prooni Publishing)
2006 Foster Care (Prooni Publishing)
2021 (Bamtee Publishing)
2004 A Very Tiny School (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980071
2003 Mito’s Poop Is Cute Too (Prooni Publishing)
2002 Handy Boy (Prooni Publishing)
2002 Jaedeok My Friend (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980873
2000 Mother Earth (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788988578346
2000 Just Different from Me (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980705
2000 The Country of My Mother (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980583
1999 A Rat Called Hamster (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980637
1999 Kkebi from Dodeulmaru (Sigongsa Publishing) ISBN 9788957980637
1996 My Teeth on the Roof (Doosan Donga Publishing) ISBN 9788900051285
2001 (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980538
1996 Sand Pebble School (Daekyo Publishing) ISBN 9788939507401
2002 (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788988578797
1996 Barefooted Children (Hyeonamsa Publishing)
2007(Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957981290
1994 Bamtee Village Series
1994 Keundori in Bamtee Village (Daekyo Publishing)| 2004 (Prooni Publishing)
2000 Yeongmi in Bamtee Village (Prooni Publishing)
2005 Bomi in Bamtee Village (Prooni Publishing)
1994 Children at Solmoru Ranch (Donga Publishing) ISBN 9788900033755
1991 Younggu and Heukgu (Hyeonamsa Publishing)
2002 (Prooni Publishing) ISBN
1988 The Flower-Scented Wind (Daekyo Publishing)
1999, 2007 (Prooni Publishing)
1987 Be the Bridge (Kyemongsa Publishing) ISBN 9788957982846
2005 (Prooni Publishing)
Early reader books
2021 Looking for Cha Daegi (Sakyejul Publishing) ISBN 9791160947304
2019 They Called My Name (Suntree Books) ISBN 9788962681840
2019 Like the Rowdy Princess (Sakyejul Publishing) ISBN 9791160944570
2022 A Princesa indomável (Atalante Editores Ltda./Casa Oito, Brazil)
2016 One Night (Sakyejul Publishing) ISBN 9788958284468
2011 The Granny Riding a Tiger (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788961702072
2010 Hate It, Don’t Know It, Just Because (Prooni Publishing)
2022 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 9791191826081
2009 Not the Way I Want (Prooni Publishing)
2022 (Bamtee Publishing)
2008 Secret Helper at Our House (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788961700641
2008 My Teacher Hates Me (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788961700405
2022 (Bamtee Publishing) ISBN 9791191826067
2007 Popsicles and Water Skiing (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980972
2005 Twelve Animals in the Tripitaka Koreana (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788990794147
2002 I’m Right, It’s a Whale! (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788988578544
2002, 2007 Pruni and Gouni (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788990794697
2001 Kimchi Is Kimchi Even in English (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788957980392
1991 Betting Your Calf (Junghan Publishing)
2008 (Prooni Publishing) ISBN 9788961700306
Other titles
2012 Fermata Italy (Sakyejul Publishing) ISBN 9791160947564
2006, 2011 Lee Geum-yi’s Children’s Book Creative Class (Prooni Publishing)
References
External links
Official Website
Personal Blog
"Author Talks: Lee Geum-Yi”, Korea Society”, October 04, 2022
"Panel Discussion and Talk,” Asian Festival of Children’s Content, May 26-29, 2022
"Letter by Lee Geum-yi, Author of The Picture Bride,” August 11, 2022
"Asian Revier of Books,The Picture Bride” by Lee Geum-yi” October 2, 2022
Living people
1962 births
20th-century South Korean writers
21st-century South Korean writers
Young adult literature
South Korean women children's writers
South Korean children's writers