"Afraid It Might Become a Burden"... Cha In-pyo on Why He Nearly Rejected the Hwang Sun-won Literature Prize

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[Financial News] Actor and novelist Cha In-pyo has returned to readers with a new work for the first time in two years.
According to Yonhap News Agency and Maeil Business Newspaper on the 27th, Cha held a press meeting in Jung District, Seoul, to mark the publication of his full-length novel Our Neighborhood Library. He spoke about the writing process and what drove him to write the book.
He said, "I found myself asking who made it possible for me to write my fifth novel." He added, "I realized that the reason I can write novels is because there are readers who read my work and share their own unique interpretations."
Our Neighborhood Library, Cha's fifth novel, follows a modern-day novelist who is writing about a painter named Beongak, who must depict a dragon during the Goguryeo era. The novel is notable for its metafiction structure, in which readers also intervene in the story, blurring the line between reality and fiction.
Cha explained that he chose the metafiction format because "the writer begins the novel, but the reader brings it to an end." He added, "I included in the novel the process of conveying what I felt in my heart."
He also said that meeting audiences across the country through book concerts had a major influence on his writing.
Cha also spoke about receiving the 14th Hwang Sun-won Literary Award Emerging Writer Prize for his 2022 novel Mermaid Hunt while he was writing Our Neighborhood Library in August last year.
He confessed, "When I first heard the news, I wanted to politely decline." He added, "I was truly grateful, but I also thought it might become a burden."
He continued, "I started out as a pop entertainer and I am still someone loved by the public, so receiving an award in a place where people have devoted themselves to literature for decades felt presumptuous."
But Cha said he eventually changed his mind after being persuaded by the organizers. "I was told this was not a simple decision made on the basis of who the writer is, to the point that it could affect how the work is evaluated," he said. "I thought that if the decision came after long discussion, then I should accept it humbly."
Cha also admitted that the award increased the pressure he felt.
"After receiving the award, I stopped writing for about a month," he recalled. "My sentences seemed childish, and I became even more strict with myself about what I should write. In the end, I realized that the only thing I could do was write in my own way."
Meanwhile, Cha, who made his debut as a novelist in 2009 with Goodbye, Hill, has since published Today's Forecast, Mermaid Hunt, and Their Day. The revised edition of his debut novel, If We Ever Look at the Same Star, was selected as a required textbook for Korean studies at the University of Oxford, drawing public attention.
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter