Professor Jieun Kiaer receives Hwang Sun-won Literary Award for Emerging Writers for her novel 'Seoul Mothers'

Professor Jieun Kiaer, Professor of Korean Linguistics at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, has been awarded the Hwang Sun-won Literary Award for Emerging Writers for her Korean-language novel, Seoul Mothers.

The prestigious award, presented in Korea on 11 September, honours the literary legacy of Hwang Sun-won (1915–2000), one of Korea’s most celebrated writers. The award ceremony also featured a congratulatory message from former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, making the occasion particularly special.

Seoul Mothers is a warm and satirical novel exploring motherhood, womanhood and the pressures of modern Korean society. Set in the fictional Geummyo Apartment in Seoul’s Gangnam district, the novel follows four very different women: three mothers raising daughters and a fourth devoted to her cat. Initially competing with one another over education, careers and social standing, the women gradually develop unexpected friendships, prompting deeper questions about identity, success and happiness.

Drawing on her own childhood experiences and academic reflections on Korean education since moving to Oxford, Professor Kiaer brings both a personal and scholarly perspective to the novel.

"Education has been enormously important to modern Korea and to many Korean families, including my own," she explains. "I wanted to explore what it means to grow up, become a woman and become a mother within Seoul’s intensely competitive educational culture."

Beyond educational pressures, the novel also examines the expectations placed on women in Korean society, particularly the traditional association between motherhood and women's identities. The inclusion of a 'cat mum' among the four central characters reflects Professor Kiaer's interest in exploring women whose lives do not necessarily fit traditional expectations of motherhood.

"For me, Seoul Mothers is about womanhood as much as motherhood," Professor Kiaer explains. "At its heart, the novel asks how women can find their own identities and happiness while living against the powerful expectations about what a successful woman, wife or mother should be."

Reflecting on what receiving the award means to her, Professor Kiaer said:

"It was deeply encouraging. I am a linguist and academic, so I've spent much of my life studying the theory of language and communication, but I see creative writing as another way of working - a practice that explores what language can do beyond analysis and scholarship. Having now lived for over half my 50 years in the UK, I'm especially drawn to stories that emerge between languages and cultures. Hence, receiving this award feels particularly special, bringing together two important parts of my life: my work as a linguist and my writing as a novelist."

The Faculty warmly congratulates Professor Kiaer on this achievement.

To read more about Professor Kiaer's work, click here.