Songpa-gu has published a collection of essays titled “There is a Reason for Living Alone,” which contains the experiences and stories of single-person households. This is the first book publishing project conducted by the Seoul City Single-Person Household Support Center, and participants are sharing their small experiences of living alone and spreading various values of life.
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[Korean Today] Songpa-gu, single-person household essay collection “There’s a reason for living alone” published © Reporter Ji Seung-ju |
Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Kang-seok) announced that it published an essay collection titled “There’s a Reason for Living Alone,” which contains the stories of 11 single-person households, on September 25 through the “Book Publication Project” hosted by the Songpa-gu Single-Person Household Support Center.
This project is an educational program that unravels the lives of single-person households in a book, and it is the first case among the Seoul City Single-Person Household Support Centers to lead to the publication of a book. Thanks to the great response to the ‘Book Writing Practical Training’ conducted last year, this year’s program was conducted for three months from April 29 to July 22 with the goal of actual publication.
CEO Yoo Young-taek, who runs a publishing company in Songpa-gu, participated as an instructor for the book publication. Participants practiced the entire process of publishing a book, including ▲organizing materials ▲selecting a topic ▲writing the main text ▲writing a publication plan, and wrote their own stories.
The authors are 11 men and women in their late 20s to early 50s who live alone in Seoul, and are active in various occupations such as IT, design, and medicine. Six of them live in Songpa-gu. The book honestly contains the daily life and realizations experienced while living alone. The special stories of ordinary people, such as recipes for home-cooked meals eaten alone, travel stories about traveling alone, communication with pets, and experiences that reminded them of the importance of family, are gaining attention.
In particular, the authors have continued to meet with readers through book talks since the publication of their books. On October 22, they participated in an event hosted by the Pyeongtaek City Cultural Foundation in Gyeonggi Province as a talent donation, and on the 7th of this month, they had a time to share the publication process and their lives as a single-person household at the Songpa-gu Single-Person Household Support Center.
Author Lee Ji-won (45, Ogeum-dong), who participated in the book, said, “I thought that I would find stability in life when I turned 40, but I am still wandering around looking for the answer to life,” and added, “I took on the challenge with the hope that it would provide a little comfort and empathy to people who live alone like me.”
Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Kang-seok said, “According to Statistics Korea, it is predicted that in 30 years, 4 out of 10 households in Korea will be single-person households,” and added, “I hope that this collection of essays will serve as an opportunity to understand and empathize with the lives of single-person households, and Songpa-gu will continue to support various relationships and communication opportunities in line with the changing times.”
Meanwhile, Songpa-gu Single-person Household Support Center operates various programs such as emotional psychological counseling, organizing, self-house repair, and happy meals for single-person households in Seoul, and is working to prevent isolation and support leisure. For more information about the center’s programs, contact Songpa-gu Single-person Household Support Center (☎070-7450-4331~3).
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