Jeju literature started with deep scars left behind all over the island from powerful storms over many years.
Myths and legends were born from mother Hallasan and her children were passed down through word to become stories and became the nutritional source of Jeju literature.
The scenery of the Black Dragon Manri sword sprouting all over the Doldami Gubulgubul Island like its veins became poetry, the horses and oxen of Teuri island became songs, and the breathing of the haenyuh became novels that paint a picture of Jeju life. But the hardships of our ancestors on this humble and dry volcanic island are merely the beginning of Jeju literature and not its end.
As Jeju showed an unrelenting spirit of resistance and resilience against unjust intervention and invasion of foreign powers through the Jeju Uprising, we do not intend to lose the introspection that makes Jeju be Jeju.
Society and legends, history and reality, and life and culture is imbued in our literature but we also want to reflect on the sustainable future of Jeju and our potential beyond. We will not lose sight of our infinite literary imagination and commitment to literature.
Like the resolute adonis plant that pushes its yellow flowers through the frozen winter, The Jeju House of Literature will be the serve as the take off base for Jeju literature.
Now we put up a small milestone on our path towards that destination.