In the history of letters, Hiromi Kawakami is one of the names that keeps being returned to.
The record lists Hiromi Kawakami as Japanese writer.
Hiromi Kawakami was born at Tokyo in 1958. Her recorded nationality is Japan. She was educated at Ochanomizu University.
Twentieth-century writing was shaped by war, exile and translation; many of its major careers were conducted across more than one language and country.
She worked as novelist, writer and science fiction writer.
The writing is recorded in Japanese.
Her name is attached above all to off-beat fiction, poetry, and literary criticism. A writer's real subject usually becomes visible only across the whole body of work.
Recognition followed: Akutagawa Prize (1996), Murasaki Shikibu Prize (1999), Women's Literature Prize (2000) and Tanizaki Prize (2001).
That the work was written from Japan matters: language, censorship and the reach of a publishing industry decide which books travel and which stay local.
Hiromi Kawakami is still writing, and the shape of the body of work is not yet settled.
Achievements
- Akutagawa Prize — 1996
- Murasaki Shikibu Prize — 1999
- Women's Literature Prize — 2000
- Tanizaki Prize — 2001
- Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature — 2016
