Gong was born in Gokseong, Jeollanam-do in 1963. Gong Sun Ok debuted as an author in 1991 with her novella Seeds of Fire through the winter issue of the literary journal Creation and Criticism. She has continued to write for 23 years. Her novels include My Thirties Left Behind in Oji-ri (1993), The Years (1996), Red Baby Blanket (2003), Come to the Sorghum Field (2002), Wandering Family (2005), Yeongran (2010), When I Was Most Beautiful (2009), and Where Did the Song Come From? (2013). She also published collections of stories such as Bloom, Daffodil (1994), A Wonderful World (2002), and Merrily through the Night (2007). Her collections of essays include Hitting the Road at Forty (2003), A Happy Dinner (2008), I Cried in the Field of Milkvetch (2000). Gong Sun Ok received the 13th Shin Dongyeop Writing Award in 1995, Today’s Young Artist Award in 2004, and the Manhae Literature Prize in 2009.
