Draft:NAMDASHI

NAMDASHI

Literary Coterie Trip to Dokdo in the East Sea, 2023
Formation	2018
Founder	Lee Seo-bin
Type	Literary group
Purpose	Environmental poetry
Location	South Korea
Official language	Korean

NAMDASHI is a South Korean literary group focused exclusively on environmental themes in poetry. The name "Nam-da-shi" is a combination of the Korean words meaning "different from others" and "poetry," reflecting the group's emphasis on distinctiveness in both subject and style.

Formed around poet Lee Seo-bin, the group has published weekly poems in the Yeongju Newspaper, based in Yeongju City, since 2014. Although the members are not environmental experts, they consistently engage with ecological topics such as climate change, local environmental issues, and nature conservation. They describe themselves as “lifelong environmental poets,” and maintain a literary practice centered solely on environmental concerns—a relatively rare approach in contemporary literature.

The literary critic Ban Kyeong-hwan, head of a poetry-focused publishing house in South Korea, has written:

"NAMDASHI is a team led by poet Lee Seo-bin, and can be regarded as one of the most original and distinctive poetry groups in Korea. Their poems are serialized weekly in the Yeongju Newspaper. Although none of the members, including Lee Seo-bin, are environmental specialists, they tackle the challenge of limited poetic material by embracing a single, profound theme. This focus not only defines their literary direction but also enriches their work. What they are attempting is unusual and by no means easy.

Activity

Since its formation in 2014, NAMDASHI has been involved in activities centered around environmental poetry and literary engagement. According to the group, these activities have included biweekly meetings focused on the humanities, monthly literary visits across South Korea, and regular workshops dedicated to the writing and exchange of environmentally themed poems.

In recent years, NAMDASHI has also introduced multilingual poetry collections as part of its international outreach. The group states that translated works have been shared with environmental organizations in various countries and that it has received responses from some of these organizations. Examples of these materials are archived through its internal channels.

Team Structure

Leadership

Lee Seo-bin is a talented poet who made her debut by winning the Literary Award of Dong-A Ilbo, a daily newspaper with a long history in Korea. Lee Seo-bin, who has been teaching humanities and conscience to NAMDASHI for over 10 years, is helping to spread Hangul around the world. Such her mission adds a unique aspect to their poetry collection. In other words, because the very act of publishing their Environmental Poetry is their Environmental Movement.

Lee Seo-bin is the founder and current leader of NAMDASHI. She made her literary debut in 2014 by receiving the Dong-A Ilbo Literary Award, one of South Korea’s long-standing literary honors. For over a decade, Lee has been teaching humanities and ethics to members of the group and is also involved in promoting the Korean script (Hangul) internationally. Her role in integrating environmental themes into poetry is regarded as a distinctive element of the group’s mission.

Membership

NAMDASHI is composed of poets who engage in environmental-themed writing. While the group includes many poetry enthusiasts, only 15 members are selected at a time to participate in the publication of official environmental poetry collections. The composition of the selected contributors may change between volumes, depending on availability and editorial decisions.

Environmental Poetry Collections of Selected Poet

Members in uniform during a poetry event

• Lee Seo-bin <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Lee Jin-jin (Lee Jin-sook) <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Geul Ro-byeol (Kim Il-soon) <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Woo Jae-ho <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Kwon Teak-yong <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Geul Vinna (Kim Mi-suk) <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Jang Jin (Jang Jin-gil)
• Geul Nara (Jang Joung-hi) <II, III, IV, V>
• Geul Bora (Park Mi-ra) <II, III, IV, V>
• Geul E-rang (Kim Jeong-o) <II, III>
• Son Sun-hee (Son Young-ja) <IV, V>
• Ko Yun-ok <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Choi Yi-geun <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Se Jeong (Lee Jung-hwa) <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Jung Gu-min <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Lee Ock (Lee Ock-hee) <I, II, III, IV, V>
• Geul Garam (Ahn Tae-hee) <I, II, III, IV, V>

Current Members (as of 2025)

The following are the current active members of NAMDASHI as of 2025:

Current NAMDASHI members during a group outing (2025)

• Kwon Teak-yong
• Son Sun-hee (Son Young-ja)
• Geul Nara (Jang Joung-hi)
• Se Jeong (Lee Jung-hwa)
• Woo Jae-ho
• Jang Jin (Jang Jin-gil)
• Choi Yi-geun
• Jung Gu-min
• Geul Garam (Ahn Tae-hee)
• Geul Vinna (Kim Mi-suk)
• Ko Yun-ok
• Lee Jin-jin (Lee Jin-sook)
• Lee Ock (Lee Ock-hee)
• Lee Seo-bin
• Geul Ro-byeol (Kim Il-soon)

Additional information regarding the publication history and the contents of each volume can be found in the section: Published Books.

Published books

Since 2022, NAMDASHI has released a multilingual environmental poetry series featuring translations from Korean into Swedish and English. The publications reflect the group's ongoing focus on environmental themes in literature.  

Copies of the series are archived at the National Library of Sweden (Kungliga biblioteket).

Swedish editions

1. Tillsammance, Ull-Keok (ISBN 9789188823472) – Libris entry
2. Långdens Sorg, Ull-Keok (ISBN 9789188823656) – Libris entry
3. Kalla Kårar, Deolkeok (ISBN 9789188823687) – Libris entry
4. Gråter, Deolkeok or Gråter, Saeparahge (ISBN 9789188823717) – Libris entry
5. Ttaggeum Ttaggeum, Seulpeum Dagen ((ISBN 9789188823717) – Libris entry

English editions (mixed versions)

1. Together, Ull-Keok (ISBN 9789188823472)
2. The Sadness of Length, Ull-Keok (ISBN 9789188823656)
3. Chills, Deolkeok (ISBN 9789188823687)
4. Crying, Deolkeok or Crying, Saeparahge (ISBN 9789188823717)
5. Ttaggeum Ttaggeum, Seulpeum Day (ISBN 9789188823717)

Published poetry collections by NAMDASHI (2022–2024):

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Translators

• Gabriel Gomer – Freelance translator and systems administrator; M.A. in Scandinavian Linguistics from Uppsala University
• Heather Hyekyun Noh – Freelance translator and ceramics student in Gustavsberg; B.A. in Sociology from Yonsei University
• Won Sook – Translator; M.A. student at Uppsala University

Planning and editorial

• Angsi Kwak – Korean novelist and project creator based in Sweden; representative of the Open Society & Culture Lab (in Korean: 열린사회문화연구소), a registered nonprofit organization in South Korea.

Contributor to

• Donga Ilbo (2002) (in Korean)
• Västerbottens-Kuriren (Sweden, 2014) (in Swedish)
• Munhwa Ilbo (2014) (in Korean)
• Mediapen (2021) (in Korean)

Other activities

Germany: Collaboration with Essen Hangeul School

The Essen Hangeul School is a weekend Korean language school in Germany, operated by local Korean residents. It offers Korean language and cultural education for children and youth. The school receives support from the Overseas Koreans Foundation, which operates under the Overseas Koreans Foundation (in korean 대한민국 재외동포청) of the Republic of Korea.

In 2025, the school conducted a cultural education program featuring NAMDASHI’s environmental poetry as part of its regular curriculum. The program included poetry recitation and calligraphy workshops led by Inra Kim Talhoff, who teaches calligraphy in Germany.

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  The Calligraphy class with Namdassi's environmental poetry
• A scene from reading Namdassi's Hangeul version environmental poetry

Sweden & Korea: design and recycling projects

DESIGNTOCTOC has stated that it carried out a project titled "Recycling Cup Sharing," which involved distributing reusable cups through a free postal initiative. According to the group, some of its activities are also connected to art exhibitions and performance events.