Akane Chihaya
Japanese writer (born 1979)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Akane Chihaya (千早 茜, Chihaya Akane; born August 2, 1979) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Shōsetsu Subaru New Writer Award, the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, the Shimase Award for Love Stories, and the Naoki Prize.
Akane Chihaya | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 千早 茜 |
| Born | August 2, 1979 Ebetsu, Hokkaido, Japan |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | Japanese |
| Alma mater | Ritsumeikan University |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards |
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Early life and education
Chihaya was born in Hokkaido in 1979.[1] From first grade through fifth grade Chihaya lived in Zambia, where her father, who was working for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, taught pathology at a university.[2] Her family returned to Japan, and Chihaya started writing poetry and keeping a diary while in high school.[3] Chihaya later graduated from Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.[4] After graduating from college she stayed in Kyoto and worked a variety of jobs at a cake shop, a medical office, and a museum.[3]
Career
Chihaya made her literary debut in 2008 with Iogami (魚神, Fish God), a novel that won the 21st Shōsetsu Subaru New Writer Award as well as the 37th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, which is not usually awarded to a debut work.[5][6] Her book Atokata (あとかた), a collection of short stories with common characters and the common theme of scarring, was published in 2013.[7] Atokata won the Shimase Award for Love Stories and was nominated for the 150th Naoki Prize, but did not win.[8][9] In July 2013 Chihaya married her husband.[8] Her novel Otoko Tomodachi (男ともだち, Male Friends), about a woman in a sexless marriage who breaks off her affair with another man to reconnect with a male friend from her school days, was published in 2014.[10] Otoko Tomodachi was nominated for the 151st Naoki Prize, but the prize went to Hiroyuki Kurokawa.[11][12]
Chihaya produced several books after her Naoki Prize nominations, including the 2016 dark fantasy novel Yoru ni Naku Tori wa (夜に啼く鳥は),[13] the 2017 novel Garden (ガーデン), about a male editor and his relationships with the women around him,[14] and the 2018 novel Tadashii Onnatachi (正しい女たち, Correct Women).[15] In 2023 Chihaya won the 168th Naoki Prize for Shirogane no Ha (しろがねの葉), sharing the prize with Satoshi Ogawa.[16]
Recognition
- 2008: 21st Shōsetsu Subaru New Writer Award[17]
- 2009: 37th Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature[18]
- 2013: Shimase Award for Love Stories[19]
- 2023: 168th Naoki Prize[16]
Works
- Iogami (魚神, Fish God), Shueisha, 2009, ISBN 9784087712766
- Atokata (あとかた), Shinchosha, 2013, ISBN 9784103341918
- Otoko Tomodachi (男ともだち, Male Friends), Bungeishunjū, 2014, ISBN 9784163900667
- Yoru ni Naku Tori wa (夜に啼く鳥は), Kadokawa, 2016, ISBN 9784041037294
- Garden (ガーデン), Bungeishunjū, 2017, ISBN 9784163906447
- Tadashii Onnatachi (正しい女たち, Correct Women), Bungeishunjū, 2018, ISBN 9784163908533
- Shirogane no Ha (しろがねの葉), Shinchosha, 2022, ISBN 9784103341949