Literary award · South Korea · since 1986

Sowol Poetry Prize

The Sowol Poetry Prize (Korean: 소월시문학상) is one of the most prestigious literary awards in South Korea.

About Sowol Poetry Prize

The Sowol Poetry Prize (Korean: 소월시문학상) is one of the most prestigious literary awards in South Korea. Established by the publishing company Moonhaksasangsa (문학사상사) in 1986, the prize aims to commemorate the soul of the poetry of Kim Sowol. The awardees are selected through a two-round process. During the first round various published poems are chosen and evaluated by selected university professors, poets, literary critics, and editors-in-chief of Literature & Thought (문학사상, the literary magazine published by Moonhaksasangsa); readers of the magazine are also polled on their opinions. The selected entries then progress to the second round, in which ten works of poetry are ultimately chosen through rigorous discussion by the judges; the author of the winning poem receives the grand prize, while the remaining nine poems are listed as runners-up.

From the Wikipedia article “Sowol Poetry Prize”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
1991Cho Chung-kwon—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Sowol Poetry Prize for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data