The voices of our mothers in this era that no one has ever heard.



<Mothers> (Humanist), a story of middle-aged Korean women drawn by Ma Young-shin, a popular independent comics writer, was selected as the winner of this year's Hobby Award in the Best International Book category.



<Mothers> won this award after fierce competition with five films including <Belgian City> and <Pole at Home>.



The Harvey Award is named after the American cartoonist and editor Harvey Kurtzman.



Based on the experiences of the writer's mother, <Mothers> is a work that deeply depicts the lives of ordinary women in their 50s in Korea. paid attention to.



Middle-aged, such as a mother who spent her youth paying off her husband’s gambling debts and was worried about her old age, a mother who was drunk at home while wearing mountain climbing clothes, a mother who was excited by a gentleman who spoke to her at the gym, and a mother who was threatened with dismissal by the manager of a service company at work. While showing the naked side of women, it also sharply explored the problems of Korean society.



The publisher introduced, "Writer Ma cheerfully subverts expectations that mothers' maternal love and sacrifice are natural, or that wisdom in life will come as they grow older, and listens to the voices of mothers of our time, whom no one has ever told them about."



This is the second time that a Korean cartoonist has won the Harvey Award, and last year, Kim Geum-sook's <Pool>, which deals with the lives of comfort women, won the Best International Book Award.



It is a feat that a Korean artist's work has been awarded for two years in a row.



Meanwhile, the official announcement of the winners will be announced at 'New York Comic Con', an American comics festival, on the 9th at 9 am Korean time.



Writer Ma Young-shin



Born in 1982, she made her debut with the short story <What's missing?>.

After that, he drew the mid-length comics <Big Man>, <Yeokgye>, and <Gilsang>, as well as the feature films such as <Namdong Industrial Complex> and <Pikuraebong>.

The works he drew together include <Connecting Island to Island> and <Red Medicine>.


This is a 'news pick'.   



(Photo courtesy of Young-Shin Ma)