Choi Jin-young is one of Korea's most celebrated authors. Her career started in 2006 when she won the Silcheon Literature Debut Author Award. She has since won many more including the Shin Dong-yup Literary Prize, Manhae Literary Prize and, most recently, the Yi Sang Literary Award.

Hunger (originally titled Proof of Gu) was a top bestseller for over half a year, breaking records for literary fiction in Korea.