Akutagawa and Naoki award decision marks rare absence of literary prizewinners
Awarded biannually in January and July, the Akutagawa and Naoki prizes are Japan's most prestigious literary honors. The committee's decision marks the sixth time since their inception, in 1935, that both prizes have had no winners. The last instance was in January 1998.
'Out of the four nominated works, Gregory Khezrnejat's 'Trajectory' and Koreko Hibino's 'Taemanai Hikari no Tashizan' (literally translated as 'The Constant Addition of Light') were discussed further after the first round of voting,' selection committee member Hiromi Kawakami said regarding the Akutagawa Prize decision. 'However, as neither received a majority vote in the second round, unfortunately, there is no recipient this time.'
She added, 'Some members of the selection committee expressed that the Akutagawa Prize should reward works that try something new or bring about new perspectives. It's not that the nominated works lacked new viewpoints — there were, in fact, many experimental elements — but we felt they needed to go one step further. ... As a member of the committee, I'm disappointed that we couldn't choose a winning work.'
Selection committee member Natsuhiko Kyogoku said about the lack of awardees, 'Even though no winners were selected, it's undeniable that the nominated works have moved many readers. I encourage readers to visit bookstores and buy all the nominated books — they're worth reading.'
The Akutagawa Prize is given to up-and-coming writers for short- to medium-length works of literary fiction published in a newspaper or magazine, while the Naoki Prize goes to an early or mid-career author for a work of pop or genre fiction. Including this round, the Akutagawa Prize has gone unawarded 33 times, and the Naoki Prize 30 times.
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