The Journey in Search of Light: The Firefly’s Adventure

As night falls, fireflies light up the tiny yellow lamps on their tails and soar into the sky in unison. In the pitch-black night, these fireflies, stitching the darkness with flecks of starlight, are the undisputed stars of the summer evening. Yet there is one firefly that longs to shine even brighter than it does now. So, the strongest and most skilled flier among them sets out on a journey to the city, determined to uncover the secret of true light—leaving behind only a promise: “I will definitely come back.”

Before the firefly lies a city that looks like a fairytale palace, radiating dazzling light in every direction. The firefly visits the streetlights in the park, the headlights of cars, and the neon signs of the urban landscape, hoping to learn from them the secret of their brilliant glow. But can this brave little firefly ultimately unlock the true mystery of light?

Ahn Do-hyun
Born in 1961 in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, he graduated from the Department of Korean Language and Literature at Wonkwang University and later from the Graduate School of Literary Creation at Dankook University. He currently serves as a professor in the Department of Literary Creation at Dankook University. In 1981, he was selected for the New Year Literary Contest of the Maeil Business Newspaper, and in 1984, he was again selected for the New Year Literary Contest of the Dong-A Ilbo, marking the beginning of his literary career.
To date, he has published 11 collections of poetry, including his debut collection “Jeon Bong-jun on the Way to Seoul,” as well as “Bonfire,” “I Want to Be by Your Side,” “Solitary and Lonely,” “The Fox I Miss,” “Post Office by the Sea,” “On Trivial Things,” “I Built a River to Rush to You,” “Earnest Yet Naive,” “North Harbor,” and “When the Trumpet Creeper Blossoms, You Can Hang Musical Instruments by the Window.”
He has received numerous prestigious literary awards, including the “Poetry and Poetics” Young Poet Award, the Sowol Poetry Literature Prize, the Nojak Literature Prize, the Lee Soo Literature Prize, the Yun Dong-ju Literature Prize, and the Baekseok Literature Prize. In addition, he has written several collections of children’s poetry and fairy tales, such as the children’s poetry collections “The Village on the Back of a Leaf,” “Awoo Awoo,” and “The Geese Are Very Cold”; and the fairy tales “The Child Who Eats Fish Feces,” “The Cat’s Revenge,” and “The King on a Sled.” His fairy tale for adult readers, “Salmon,” has sold over one million copies in South Korea, becoming a bestseller, and has been translated into 15 languages for global publication. He has also authored essay collections such as “A Critical Biography of Baek Seok” and “Such Things.”

Baek Dae-seung
He graduated with a degree in Cartoon Art from university. He previously served as the art director for the animated film “Queen Sim Cheong” and is now an active illustrator in the industry, specializing in creating illustrations for children’s picture books.
His illustrated works include: “The White-Browed Tiger,” “Our Square,” “Dongzhi, Let’s Go!” “The Child Who Delivers Letters,” “Good, the Taegeuk Flag,” “I Walk the Silk Road,” “The Tiger’s Tail as a Fishing Rod,” “The Noon Choice of an Eleven-Year-Old,” and the graphic novel “Animal Farm,” among others.