Chinese Author Wins Akutagawa Prize

[Stewart]

Souce: Daily Yomiuri Online

Yang Yi has become the first Chinese author to win the Akutagawa Prize for promising new writers, after the selection committee announced Tuesday she had been honored for her novel "Toki ga Nijimu Asa," which translates literally as "a morning when time blurs."

Yang, 44, who teaches Chinese language in Japan, is unique among writers to have won the prize in that her mother tongue is not Japanese, although it has been awarded to Korean writers living in Japan.

Also on Tuesday, the Naoki Prize, another literary award, was given to Areno Inoue, 47, for her novel "Kiriha e" (To the Coal Face).

Yang Yi's novel vividly depicts the joy and sorrow in the life of an idealistic Chinese university student who joins a pro-democracy movement but becomes frustrated by 1989's Tiananmen Square Incident.

Yang, a Chinese citizen whose real name is Liu Qiao, was born in Harbin. She has studied Japanese language since 1987, when she first came to Japan. She graduated from Ochanomizu University, Tokyo and was previously nominated for the biannually-awarded prize in November for her novel "Wang-chan," which won the Bungakukai new talent award.

A quick bit of info on the prize itself:

The Akutagawa Prize is a Japanese literary award presented semi-annually. It was established in 1935 by Kan Kikuchi, then-editor of Bungeishunjū magazine, in memory of author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. It is currently sponsored by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, and is awarded in January ('E' in the list, below) and July ('L' in the list below) to the best serious literary story published in a newspaper or magazine by a new or rising author.

The winner receives a pocket watch and a cash award of 1 million yen. Short stories and novellas win the prize more frequently than do full-length novels. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is Japan’s most sought after literary prize.

Previous winners have included well known names like Murakami Ryu, Abe Kobo, Yasushi Inou, Endō, Shūsaku, and Ōe Kenzaburō.

[matt.todd]

Ooh, controversial. Bet the high-brow academics didn't like that...

[Stewart]

Ooh, controversial. Bet the high-brow academics didn't like that...

Given how frequently the Akutagawa awards come round, I think it will be quickly forgotten. If anything, they should be proud, in my mind, that an outsider has chosen to write in their language rather than her mother tongue and been successful enough.

[matt.todd]

You'd think so. But they're still bitter that Banana Yoshimoto won it, and it popular.