His poetry collections include Buronhan geomeun pi (불온한 검은 피 Unruly Black Blood), Nappeun sonyeoni seo itda (나쁜 소년이 서 있다 A Bad Boy Is Standing), Naega wonaneun cheonsa (내가 원하는 천사 The Angel I Want), and Oship meter (오십 미터 Fifty Meters).
He was born to Catholic parents who expected him to become a priest, but he went against their wishes to pursue a literary career.
He was a researcher at Keio University's Institute for Journalism, Media & Communication Studies in Japan.
He won the Modern Poetry World New Poet Award in 1991, launching his literary career.
After finishing school he worked briefly for the Korean Publishing Journal, before joining Maeil Business News Korea as a journalist.
[3] Heo's poetry collections include Buronhan geomeun pi (불온한 검은 피 Unruly Black Blood), Nappeun sonyeoni seo itda (나쁜 소년이 서 있다 A Bad Boy Is Standing), Naega wonhaneun cheonsa (내가 원하는 천사 The Angel I Want), and Oship meter (오십 미터 Fifty Meters), while his essay collections include Geu namjaui bibliophily (그 남자의 비블리오필리 That Man's Bibliophily) and Gojeontamnik (고전탐닉 Classics Obsession).
[4] His early works have a rebellious character, questioning the notion of salvation and challenging the world.
His first poetry collection Buronhan geomeun pi (불온한 검은 피 Unruly Black Blood) looks back on his childhood when he was a "bad boy"—before he reached "the age when I had seen too much of the world" or "the age when crime started to suit me.
Bringing together myriads of isolated, non-joyful words—in other words, writing poetry—was for me like meditating in front of a wall or experiencing bliss.
If Heo's first poetry collection focuses on describing his childhood acquaintances using gloomy imagery, his second collection Nappeun sonyeoni seo itda (나쁜 소년이 서 있다 A Bad Boy Is Standing) explores the self-deprecation and malaise of the white-collar worker in the city and reflects on ugliness, wretchedness, dissolution, and futility.
[7] In his third collection Naega wonhaneun cheonsa (내가 원하는 천사 The Angel I Want), Heo coolly considers the empty, numbing aspects of life, while seeking positivity in negativity.
Heo captures the lonely landscape of the city and addresses pain directly, thereby constantly pushing his poetic boundaries.