Latest news with #HiromiKawakami
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
Japanese Author Kawakami Misses Out on Int'l Booker Prize
News from Japan Culture May 21, 2025 15:17 (JST) London, May 21 (Jiji Press)--Japanese author Hiromi Kawakami has missed out on the International Booker Prize, a prestigious British award for translated fiction. The Booker Prize Foundation announced Indian author Banu Mushtaq's "Heart Lamp" as this year's winner of the prize in London on Tuesday night. Kawakami's work "Under the Eye of the Big Bird" was one of the six books shortlisted for the award. Japanese authors Yoko Ogawa and Mieko Kawakami had their works shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020 and 2022, respectively, but both missed out on the prize. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
review under the eye of the big bird hiromi kawakami
We plunge headfirst into this science fictional tale via the thoughts of Kyle, a troubled schoolgirl. Details are in short supply. We know that the girl is young, but have no idea where she lives or in which century. She appears to be rebellious and wants to run away, but it isn't clear why. Then she attacks a fellow student who, according to her, hates her. The scene shifts to other characters and other timelines. In this way, the novel slides across people, centuries and continents in what appears to be a chaotic manner. The narrative voice changes constantly. Some characters have names such as Rien and Noah. Others have numbers instead of names. Still others are known simply as 'mothers' and have no names. Initially, we are told that the mothers are benign and powerful beings. Then it turns out they are not human at all. Indeed, the story is about the whole of humanity, not any particular people. The prose is textured to suggest that it may have been written by an intelligent machine, not a person. The narrative turns into a meditation upon AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the way in which we, who created it, will allow it to supplant us altogether. Era of smart robots Science fiction has routinely explored the theme of machines taking over. What makes this novel unusual is not the theme but the fact that it no longer feels fictional. We are living today in an era of smart robots and super computers. Siri-voices guide us through our streets. Video games have seduced millions of young children. The first phase of the takeover has actually begun. So yes, the novel is highly effective, in a spare and dismal way. The author Hiromi Kawakami is a young Japanese woman and a rising literary star, but the robotic tone of the writing is deeply unsatisfying to read. It provides such a horrid preview of the future that one can only hope we will never get to know it. The reviewer is an author, playwright, artist and cartoonist. Under The Eye Of The Big Bird Hiromi Kawakami, trs Asa Yoneda Granta ₹799
Yomiuri Shimbun
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan Literature Advances Overseas: Styles that Gaze Deeply into Society Gaining International Popularity
Contemporary Japanese literature is gaining popularity overseas. To ensure that this does not end up as a passing fad, it is necessary to map out a long-term overseas strategy and also to help cultivate new readers in Japan. Hiromi Kawakami's novel 'Under the Eye of the Big Bird' was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, the translation category of a prestigious British literary award. The novel depicts humanity on the verge of extinction and its fusion with artificial intelligence, among other themes. The winner will be announced on May 20. A work by Han Kang of South Korea, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature last year, was previously selected for the International Booker Prize. If Kawakami wins it this time, it will be a first for a Japanese author. Writers from Japan have been highly evaluated abroad in recent years. Works by Yoko Tawada and Yu Miri won the U.S. National Book Award for translated literature. In Britain, Japanese novels have enjoyed a boom following hits such as Sayaka Murata's 'Convenience Store Woman.' Asako Yuzuki's 'Butter' has reportedly sold more than 300,000 copies there. Works by Yasunari Kawabata and Junichiro Tanizaki are said to have been read abroad due to their perceived exoticism. Since the late 1980s, the more accessible works of Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto and other novelists have been loved beyond borders, laying the groundwork for the present boom. Looking at the international situation, economic disparities and divisions are widening in many countries. Against this backdrop, the style of Japanese novels, which do not easily judge right from wrong and sometimes look deeply into society with a sense of humor, seems to have achieved resonance. Especially, the boom is characterized by the high popularity of female writers. The Japan Foundation has long subsidized translation and other expenses for foreign publishers to promote Japanese literature overseas. Tawada's work, which won the National Book Award in the United States, also received support from the foundation. The Cultural Affairs Agency is also promoting a project to help Japanese publishers and others write English-language proposals to market their novels overseas. These efforts should be further strengthened to introduce many attractive works overseas. It is also important to devise ways to link the popularity of Japanese literature overseas to the acquisition of readers in Japan. It is hoped that publishers will communicate more than they do now about the evaluations and reactions of overseas readers. It may be that more people here will gain new perspectives and awareness different from those of Japanese readers, and will want to read the works themselves. Translation not only into English but also into other languages needs to be strengthened. The government should focus on cultivating translators in cooperation with overseas universities and other entities. Increased interest in Japanese literature will lead to a deeper understanding of Japan. (From The Yomiuri Shimbun, May 14, 2025)
The Guardian
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Mind-expanding books': International Booker prize shortlist announced
Hiromi Kawakami and Solvej Balle have made this year's International Booker prize shortlist, which for the first time is comprised entirely of books published by independent presses. British translator Sophie Hughes has been shortlisted for her translation of Perfection, originally written in Italian by Vincenzo Latronico. This marks the fifth time Hughes has been shortlisted for the prize, making her the award's record holder for the most times shortlisted and longlisted. On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland (Faber) Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson (Small Axes) Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda (Granta) Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes (Fitzcarraldo) Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi (And Other Stories) A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson (Lolli) Six author-translator teams are now in contention for the £50,000 prize, the winner of which will be announced on 20 May, with the prize money divided equally between author and translator. Japanese writer Kawakami, best known for her novel Strange Weather in Tokyo, has been shortlisted for her novel-in-stories Under the Eye of the Big Bird, translated by Asa Yoneda. Danish writer Balle and Scottish translator Barbara J Haveland have been chosen for On the Calculation of Volume I, the first of a planned septology in which the protagonist Tara is stuck in a time loop. 'These mind-expanding books ask what might be in store for us, or how we might mourn, worship or survive', said author and judging chair Max Porter. 'They offer knotty, sometimes pessimistic, sometimes radically hopeful answers to these questions. Taken together they build a miraculous lens through which to view human experience, both the truly disturbing and the achingly beautiful.' The shortlisted titles are slim, with four coming in at under 200 pages, including Latronico's Perfection. The novel, about a millennial expat couple living in Berlin, 'transcends its satire of 2010s hipsterdom through the depth of Latronico's sociological observations', writes Thomas McMullan in the Guardian. 'This chronicle of contemporary Berlin is strongest in its articulation of how a certain kind of globalisation dislocates us from our surroundings.' Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson, was also selected. The book was written in three weeks, and is based on recordings from a real event in November 2021, when a dinghy carrying migrants from France to the UK capsized in the Channel, causing the death of 27 people on board. Sign up to Bookmarks Discover new books and learn more about your favourite authors with our expert reviews, interviews and news stories. Literary delights delivered direct to you after newsletter promotion A book translated from Kannada – a language spoken by tens of millions of people, primarily in the state of Karnataka in southwest India – features on the shortlist for the first time in the prize's history this year: Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi. It contains 12 stories originally published between 1990 and 2023, which capture the daily lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India. Completing the shortlist is A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson. Serre wrote the book, about a woman with severe psychological disorders, in six months after the suicide of her sister. 'I wanted to create a memorial to her', said Serre. The other titles longlisted for this year's prize were The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated by Sinan Antoon; There's a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert; Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter; Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated by Julia Sanches and Heather Cleary; Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated by Polly Barton; Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel Bowles; and On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated by Lucy Scott. Alongside Porter on this year's judging panel are the poet Caleb Femi, writer and Guardian critic Sana Goyal, author and translator Anton Hur, and musician Beth Orton. Authors who have previously won the award include Han Kang, Olga Tokarczuk and Lucas Rijneveld. Last year, Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the prize for Kairos. To explore all of the books on the shortlist for the International Booker prize 2025 visit Delivery charges may apply.
The Guardian
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
All 13 writers on International Booker longlist are first-time nominees
Mircea Cărtărescu, Hiromi Kawakami and Christian Kracht are among the writers to have made this year's 'unconventional' International Booker longlist. All 13 writers on the list are nominated for the first time, while one translator, Sophie Hughes, appears for a record-breaking fifth time with her rendering of Vincenzo Latronico's Perfection. They are now in contention for the £50,000 prize for the best book translated to English, which will be divided equally between the winning author and translators. The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated by Sinan Antoon (And Other Stories) On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland (Faber) There's a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert (Bullaun Press) Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter (Pushkin) Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated by Julia Sanches and Heather Cleary (Scribe) Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson (Small Axes) Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated by Polly Barton (Viking) Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda (Granta) Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel Bowles (Serpent's Tail) Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes (Fitzcarraldo) Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi (And Other Stories) On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated by Lucy Scott (Tilted Axis) A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson (Lolli) The 2025 list features the highest-ever number of independent publishers, with 12 of 13 titles coming from indie presses. Though the most recent Nobel prize in literature winner Han Kang was eligible for this year's prize with her book We Do Not Part, translated from Korean by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, she did not make the list. Kang won the International Booker in 2016 with her breakthrough novel, The Vegetarian, translated by Deborah Smith. Cărtărescu is the first Romanian author to be longlisted for the prize, with his novel Solenoid, translated by Sean Cotter. Set in late 1970s and early 1980s communist Bucharest, Solenoid begins with the diaristic reflections of a teacher before expanding into an existential, surrealist account of the narrator's journey through alternate realities. Last May, it won the €100,000 Dublin literary award. Along with Romanian, a second language, Kannada – spoken by approximately 38 million people, primarily in the state of Karnataka in southwest India – also features for the first time in the prize's history with Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi. Japanese writer Kawakami, best known for her novel Strange Weather in Tokyo, was chosen for her novel-in-stories Under the Eye of the Big Bird. Set in a future in which humans are on the verge of extinction, its voice is 'marvellously captured by translator Asa Yoneda', writes James Bradley in a Guardian review. At 288 pages, Kawakami's book is among the longest on the list: 11 of the 13 books come in at under 250 pages, with eight under 200. One of the slimmer titles, at 192 pages, is Kracht's Eurotrash, translated from German by Daniel Bowles. The novel follows a middle-aged writer on a road trip through Switzerland with his terminally ill mother. 'Their journey takes them through a number of blackly comic set pieces at a vegetarian commune, a private airstrip and inside a broken-down ski lift,' writes Marcel Theroux in the Guardian. This year's longlist sees an Iraqi translator nominated for the first time, with The Book of Disappearance by Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem, translated by Sinan Antoon. When Palestinians suddenly disappear, a friend of one of the vanished begins searching for clues in what John Self described as a 'rich, potent novel'. This year brings a record for the longest period between an original-language publication and International Booker prize longlisting. On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer was first published in Dutch 43 years ago, and is now translated into English by Lucy Scott. Also on the longlist are On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland; There's a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert; Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated by Julia Sanches and Heather Cleary; Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson; Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated by Polly Barton; and A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson. Author and judging chair Max Porter said that he hopes the 'unconventional' longlist will 'exhilarate' readers. 'These books bring us into the agony of family, workplace or nation-state politics, the near-spiritual secrecy of friendship, the inner architecture of erotic feeling, the banality of capitalism and the agitations of faith,' he said. The shortlist of six books will be announced on 8 April, with the winner revealed at a ceremony at London's Tate Modern on 20 May. Alongside Porter on this year's judging panel are poet Caleb Femi, writer Sana Goyal, author and translator Anton Hur, and musician Beth Orton. The judges selected the longlist from 154 books submitted by publishers. The 2025 prize was open to works of long-form fiction and collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025. Along with Kang, previous writers to have won the award include Olga Tokarczuk and Lucas Rijneveld. Last year, Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the prize for Kairos.
