Unlike the fairy tales they write, the real lives of children's and young adult literature authors Yoo Eun-sil and Lee Hyun were far from a magical dream. Recently, both writers published their very first personal essays—Yoo’s My Cheerful Survival Guide (Biyoungso) and Lee’s Today's Momentum (Changbi)—offering readers a glimpse into how they navigated harsh realities with resilience and spunk.

Yoo Eun-sil: Finding Art in Adversity

Celebrating her 22nd year as an author, Yoo Eun-sil is a prominent figure in Korean children's literature. Since her debut in 2004 through the quarterly Changbi for Children, she has penned celebrated works such as My Teacher Astrid Lindgren, The Birth of Il-su, and I'll Be Picky Too. Her young adult novel Pilgrim House became a massive hit, selling over 300,000 copies, and she has been nominated as the Korean candidate for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for four consecutive years (2024–2027).

Her new book, My Cheerful Survival Guide, traces her journey from a bittersweet childhood to becoming a celebrated writer. Yoo’s life took an unexpected turn when her father suffered a debilitating accident that left him unable to work for 35 years. Despite his physical struggles, he instilled a sense of humor and wit in his children.

"I almost grew up as the privileged daughter of two schoolteachers, but instead, I became the daughter of a person with a disability," Yoo reflects. "Poverty and grief barged into our lives. I grew up as a child painfully aware of the architectural and societal barriers that wheelchairs could never cross. That perhaps is why I became a writer." She adds, "No matter what kind of ruin or scar a fairy tale portrays, it ultimately has no choice but to approach it with love."

Yoo is also fiercely dedicated to her craft. To compensate for what she humbly calls "lacking talent," she relies on intense physical effort. "Writing a 30-page short story requires me to draft about 300 pages and cross out roughly 270 of them," she notes. "While a perfect sentence may not exist, struggling to get as close to perfection as possible is all I know how to do."

Lee Hyun: Charging Forward with 'Momentum'

Lee Hyun, the author behind the million-selling series Wanini the Blue Lion, is also marking her 20th year in the literary world. She made her debut in 2006 by winning the grand prize in Changbi’s Children’s Book Competition with Jajangmyeon is Getting Soggy!. She later soared to massive commercial success with the 10-volume Wanini the Blue Lion, which chronicles the adventures of a young lion pod in the Serengeti.

Today's Momentum captures life beyond the page—sharing her creative process behind writing a sprawling African savanna adventure without ever having stepped foot in Africa, alongside touching encounters with young readers. The title encapsulates her philosophy on life and the driving force behind her career. Becoming a freelance author after publishing her first book, she faced daunting challenges as a single mother with "no regular salary, no severance pay, and no dismissal allowance." Yet, driven by the thought that "at least I can write," she continued to author books to make a living and raise her child. When critics questioned how she could write about Africa without visiting, she sharply retorted, "Do we take a time machine to write historical fiction?" before diving deep into books and documentaries to craft her vivid tales.

The essay also features her long-awaited travelogue after finally visiting the Serengeti upon finishing the series. Though she initially worried whether her mental imagery of the landscape would prove wrong, the real grassland matched her imagination entirely. While she regards the Serengeti as one of the most breathtaking places on Earth, she maintains a self-aware perspective as an outsider from a distant city, deliberately avoiding the romanticization of Africa.

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