This is an adaptation of the first poem, “The Birth of a Gaze,” in Beyond Sincerity (2025). Lee Jeya is a poet formerly employed as a television writer; she made her literary debut in 2012 and has published A Kind of Heart, The Spread of Sorrow, and other works. Beyond Sincerity is poet Lee Jeya’s second collection of poetry. [Photo: Epik] “If there’s any role for a gaze, / it’s that it makes it easy to speak of sincerity out of the blue.” This line by Lee Jeya was read by an especially large number of readers last year. It was shared on social media by Karina, a member of the girl group aespa, and actor Park Jung-min mentioned it as “a poetry collection I read while holding it close.” After they recommended it, sales increased by about ten times.
