1941년 전남 목포 출생. 서울대 미학과를 졸업하고 1969년 『시인(詩人)』지에 「황톳길」 등을 발표하며 작품활동을 시작했다. 1964년 대일 굴욕외교 반대투쟁에 가담해 첫 옥고를 치른 이래 민주화운동에 투신하여 독재권력에 맞선 행동하는 양심으로, 한국 전통사상을 재해석한 사상가로 독보적인 행보를 거듭해왔다. 현재 명지대 국문과 석좌교수, (사)생명과평화의길 이사장이다. 시집으로 『황토』 『타는 목마름으로』 『五賊』 『애린』 『검은 산 하얀 방』 『이 가문 날의 비구름』 『별밭을 우러르며』 『중심의 괴로움』 『花開』『유목과 은둔』 등이 있고, 『김지하 사상전집』(전3권) 『김지하의 화두』 외에 다수의 저서가 있다. 아시아•아프리카 작가회의 로터스 특별상, 국제시인회의 위대한 시인상, 크라이스키 인권상 등과 이산문학상, 정지용문학상, 만해문학상, 대산문학상 등을 수상했다.

Perhaps the greatest dissident poet in modern Korea, Kim Ji-ha was born in Mokpo and rose to literary prominence in the 1960s and 1970s by raising a fierce voice against the dictatorial government. In 1970, Kim was imprisoned after the publication of Five Thieves, a scathing parody of corrupt politicians, government officials and business conglomerates sung in the traditional rhythm of ‘pansori.’ His imprisonment raised much outcry both nationally and internationally. Suffering from health problems, Kim continued to devote himself to writing. In 1974, Kim was court-martialed and sentenced to death. National and international efforts to free him culminated in the commuting of his death sentence to life-imprisonment. Around these times, Kim gained international recognition for his poetry and pro-democracy activities and was awarded Lotus Award. In recent years, Kim has been immersed in the “ideas of life”-a thought that rejects “survival of the fittest” as the basic order of existence and instead proposes a life of mutual cooperation and survival rooted in the belief that all life forms are fundamentally interrelated and interdependent.