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The 22nd Overseas Koreans Literary Awards

The Overseas Koreans Foundation (OKF) opens up submissions for the 22nd Overseas Koreans Literary Awards (2020).

The Awards’ mission is to inspire overseas Koreans in 180 countries to write literary works in Korean and encourage young Koreans abroad to develop their Korean language. Also, the published winning works will bring together readers in diverse regions as well as ones in Korea, contributing to better understanding of overseas Koreans’ lives and related issues. We are looking forward to discovering inspirational overseas Korean writers around the world.

Notably this year, the OKF honors the ‘Adoption Memoir’ in addition to our traditional genres, hoping to meet Korean adoptees’ experiences. We would like to humbly invite Korean adoptee writers and hope many participate in the new genre.

Hosted & Organized by: Overseas Koreans Foundation

Supported by: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROK


1. Eligibility

○ Adults

- Overseas Koreans who are citizens or permanent residents in their respective countries. Those who have resided outside of Korea for 7 or more years as of May 31 of 2020 are eligible as well.

○ Youth

- Overseas Korean Youth who are citizens or permanent residents in their respective countries. Those who have resided outside of Korea for 5 or more years as of May 31 of 2020 are eligible as well.

‧ Elementary · Primary School Part: Ages 7~12 (international age)

‧ Middle · High School Part: Ages 13~18 (international age)

Former Winners/Grand Prize awardees are NOT eligible for submission in the same part.

○ Korean Adoptees

- Korean adoptees and their (grand) children who have citizenship in their respective countries


2. Genres & Topics

Adult [Poetry, Short Novel, Memoir]

- Poetry · Short Novel: Any

- Memoir: (Auto) biographical narrative of the immigration and settlement process

*Stories of writers themselves, their families and relatives

Youth [Essay]

- My ‘Overseas Korean Language School’ episodes

- My experience of visiting Korea or learning Korean

- Topics such as ‘How I’ve felt proud to be Koreans,’ ‘What I’ve seen and experienced in my residing country,’ or any other ones.

○ Korean Adoptees [Adoption Memoir]

- (Auto) biographical chronicles on building up self-identity and tracing one's root

*Stories of writers themselves and their families

- Topics such as family reunion, visit to Korea or any other ones

3. Entry Numbers and Length Requirement

Ø You can find the official literary work entry form on KoreanNet webpage.

(Please visit: www.korean.net)

Ø All the works must meet the length requirement either by its required word account condition (try to check with Microsoft Word’s ‘Word Account’ function) or by the number of pages when using the official literary work text form.

Ø Submissions which word account is under 80% or over 150% of the standard requirement will not be accepted. (e.g., Standard length for a short novel is 16,000 words. Hence, the submitted novel is to be no less than 12,800 or no more than 24,000 words.)

4. Judging Process & Prizes

○ Judging Process: (1st) Documents Review → (2nd) Longlists Selection

→ (3rd) Finalists/Winners Selection

*The panel of judges is composed of those who have expertise in each category.

*Only the Finalists/Winners are to be announced.

○ Prizes: The 4 Winners, the 30 Finalists and 2 overseas Korean language schools will be awarded prize money of 41,300,000 KRW in total.

※ ‘Special Prizes for the Overseas Korean Language School’ are:

Only for the non-regular (weekend-based running) overseas Korean language schools registered at the Embassies and Consulates of the ROK.

Granted to the Korean language schools where the students applying for the Youth category are attending.

Selected based on how many works of each school’s students are nominated for the Longlists and the Finalists.

5. Submission

5.1. When to Submit? From 9:00am. April 1 to May 31, 2020 (midnight, KST)

※ No late submissions will be accepted

5.2. How to Submit? Online submissions accepted via the KoreanNet webpage

- Please visit and register: www.korean.net

- Find ‘Announcement’ or ‘The 22nd Overseas Koreans Literary Awards Popup’ on the site

- Click on ‘Online Application’ button at the bottom of the announcement page.

(Download the ‘official literary work text form(s),’ fill it/them out with your work(s), save and attach to the online application form)

- Finish the application form, make sure to attach your work files and submit.

5.3. Documents Required

- Online Application Form: ‘Announcement’ tab on Korean Net webpage → Click ‘Apply’

- Literary works: Download the ‘official literary work text form(s),’ from the announcement in Korean Net webpage (www.korean.net) and submit it as in file format

※ The file should be named in the following order

: name of applicant, category and title of your work

- After the nomination, the Winners and the Finalists are required to submit documentation proving their eligibility (i.e., how long they’ve lived overseas, as guided in 1. Eligibility)

※Upon the submission, please delete any of your personal identification codes to protect personal information.

6. Winners Announcement and Ceremony

○ Announcement: The Prize Winners and the Finalists are to be announced on the KoreanNet webpage as well as individually notified

○ Ceremony: The Overseas Koreans Literary Awards Ceremonies are to be held at the nearest Korean Embassies and Consulates of each Winner/Finalist’s residence.

7. Additional Conditions

○ Submissions may NOT be limited neither to debut nor to established writers, and applicants may submit for multiple categories.

○ Your submission will NOT be accepted if there is any insufficient or false documentation. Also, please be aware that submitted documents and literary works will not be returned to the applicants.

※ The Winners and the Finalists must submit documentation of proving eligibility to the OKF within 2 weeks after the award announcement. (Awardees are to be notified individually as well.) Nomination and prizes can be voided if the documentation fails to meet the requirement.

○ Literary works under the following instances are NOT eligible to be judged, and may incur the cancelation of any awards they may receive. The authors are responsible for all legalities that may arise regarding the submission of their literary works.

- Literary works which have been published by other institutions or media (newspapers, websites, etc.)

- Literary works that are (mostly) plagiarized

- Any other works deemed as inappropriate by the panel of judges

○ The copyright (i.e, author’s moral and property right) of all submitted works shall be owned by the author. However, the property right (i.e., right to reproduce, right of public performance, public transmission right, right of exhibition, right of distribution, and adaptation right) of ‘all awarded works’ shall be transferred to the OKF, and awardees are to be compensated for transferring the property right by receiving the prize money.

○ Awarded works can be used by the OKF for public interest, promotion, etc.

※ A collection of awarded works will be published (not for sale) and the works will be used for online contents.


▣ Inquiries

Overseas Koreans Foundation

Research and Communications Department

Office: +82-64-786-0247,

Please contact: Hansol Park, culture@okf.or.kr



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