COF Opening Keynote: Kidlit in a Digital World

이금이 (Lee Geum-yi) (Korea)

Korean children's and young adult literature author Lee Geumyi began her writing career in 1984, during a period of new exploration in Korean children's literature. Over the next 40 years, she produced more than 50 works, capturing the hearts of readers and critics alike, spanning from children to adults, and leading the growth of children's literature and the emergence and expansion of young adult literature.

Notable works include the Bamtee Village Story quartet, which continued due to long-standing requests from young readers; the full-length fairy tale You Too Are a Twilight Lily, which elevated the literary quality of Korean children's literature; and Yujin and Yujin, which resonated deeply with the wounds carried by contemporary youth and marked the beginning of serious young adult literature. These works have consistently received much love from children, teens, and adults.

She is also expanding her literary world with historical novels such as Can't I go instead? and The Picture Bride. Recently, she has been revising some of her earlier works to align with the changed sensibilities of the times.

In 2024, she was selected as a finalist for the Hans Christan Andersen Award in the Author category.

박현민 (Park Hyunmin) (Korea)

Park Hyunmin was born in Seoul in 1986. Park made his debut with So Much Snow, a book inspired by Bruno Munari’s and Remy Charlip’s work in which white paper stands in for white snow. He is most interested in frames, and the physicality of the book itself, and his work tends to focus on a book's physical properties. Park likes to present his readers with negative space (the background) in his books, inviting them to fill in the empty space, and rejoices in the playfulness and insight that result from breaking up the framework.

이수지 (Suzy Lee) (Korea)

Suzy Lee studied painting and book art in both Korea and the UK and have published picture books in various countries around the world. She focuses on works that use the physicality of books and the format of wordless picture books to capture children’s play and energy. She runs Hintoki Press, which publishes new independent books based on Korean folktales.

In 2022, she received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in the Illustrator category, and she has also been honored with several prestigious awards, including the Bologna Ragazzi Award Special Mention in Fiction, the Korean Publishing Culture Award, the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books Award, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor.

Some of her representative works include Danced Away, Summer, River, the Black Dog, Lines, Wave, Shadow, and Mirror.