Living in Gwangju
Published by the Gwangju Human Resources and Lifelong Education Promotion Institute and Another Way Association
May 21, 2026
(Jisu Sheen recently moved from New Haven to Gwangju, South Korea, where she’s covering local arts and culture for the New Haven Independent and Midbrow.)
When 용유나 (Yong Yoona) was growing up in Gwangju, she liked going to the movies. If the seats in the theater were full, she would sit in a folding chair or just stand. She didn’t mind. To a young person, it was an adventure. The city felt big.
Now, when she looks back on a life staying mostly in Gwangju, she sees why some might call it a narrow path.
Reading Yong’s words as a “시민작가,” a citizen writer, for a new book called 광주에서 산다는 것 (Living in Gwangju), I felt she was speaking from a boundless plane.
Living in Gwangju is “Season 2” of a publication program run by the Gwangju Human Resources and Lifelong Education Promotion Institute and Another Way Association, collecting stories from everyday citizens. It is a record of Gwangju’s history and present, as well as an effort toward establishing Gwangju’s reputation as a cultural city of writers (including Han Kang, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature).
The two organizations launched Living in Gwangju this past Thursday, as part of a “2026 Regional Problem-Solving Project” supported by the city. The effort brought together 19 writers and seven artists from around Gwangju. Coupled with the book launch was a policy discussion about the future of Gwangju’s identity; this summer, Gwangju Metropolitan City is set to merge with the provincial government to become Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City.
Thursday was the 21st of May, meaning it was Citizens’ Day in Gwangju. It was, the presenters noted, the last Gwangju Citizens’ Day; by next year, the new system and name will already be in effect.
This Citizens’ Day was both a chance to reflect and an early effort to shape how Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated City will be known moving forward.
Citizen writer 박혜원 (Park Hyewon) contributed a piece about Gwangju’s Mudeungsan mountain. She notes there was a time before Mudeungsan had a name. Even then, it had a relationship with the beings around it.
Another contributor, 최윤영 (Choi Yunyoung), describes her love of musicals in the book. She likens the city’s coming era to a “reprise” in a musical, a song that returns with new context and possibilities. Among her hopes is the desire for the city to build the kind of infrastructure that allows for more musical theater.
In one story from her section of memories, Yong is in her second year of high school. She skips her study session to go to the movies with a friend. They walk through theater-filled avenue Chungjang-ro, feeling confident and free.
Right there in the busy downtown street, Yong crosses paths with, of all people, her mother. Small world.
Or maybe the world is big.
The citizen writers had philosophies to share about Gwangju and life itself. Their contributions to the book were a practical expression of the policy discussion preceding the launch, serving as an example of what a “record” of local narratives can look like—and the type of funding and support that can make it happen.
The narratives from the citizen writers served as an archive of their memories, strengthened by the emotions behind them. At the launch, the writers stood up one by one to read excerpts from what they had written. Many of them noted how odd they felt speaking in front of a crowd, which only made them seem more honest.
In the book, the snag in Yong’s hooky plan has all the signs of an impending disaster, but then something amazing happens. Her mom sees her, laughs, and tells the two girls to get back before they get caught. And she continues on her way.
Yong’s story is a movie theater route with multiple layers. She describes the excitement of the bustling street. She tells us about the eventual opening of a cinema with seat assignments, when she stops needing to wander around for a good seat.
And her tender memories of her mother, she writes, are also scattered along that same path.
To inquire about “Living in Gwangju,” you can contact anotherway149@naver.com.
