Finally in 1977, one of his short stories received honorable mention in literary awards given by Daegu Maeil Newspaper, after which he adopted the name Yi Mun-yol. The character, Mun, in his adopted name means “writer”. He was awarded the Dong-A Ilbo award for a short story, "Saehagok", in 1979. In 1979, he was also able at last to have his novel, "The Son of Man", published and it won the prestigious Today's Writer Award. He then published a series of novels and short stories including "Golden Phoenix", "Hail to the Emperor", "Age of Heroe"s and "Our Twisted Hero", each of which won awards. He reached the peak of his literary productivity in the 1980’s and 1990’s but continued to write. His novel "Lithuanian Woman" won the Dongni Literature Prize in 2012. From 1994 to 1997, he taught Korean language and literature at Sejong University. He is currently a chair professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.