Japanese Literary Awards

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Akagata Misei

あけがた みせい

Akegata Misei

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1988-08-10 （Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Poet, Essayist, Book reviewer
Active Years
2010-
Affiliations
Roppongi Poets' Group, Rekitei (association)
Influenced By
Kenji Miyazawa

Education

Meiji University, Faculty of Letters
Faculty of Letters / Department of History and Geography
Degree: Bachelor
Country: Japan
Meiji University, Graduate School of Science and Technology
Graduate School of Science and Technology
Degree: Master
Country: Japan
Completed master's program

Awards

Gendai Shitecho Prize
2010
Organization: Gendai Shitecho (magazine)
Result: 受賞
Nakahara Chuya Prize
2012
Work: Virus-chan
Organization: Nakahara Chuya Memorial Museum
Result: 受賞
Ayukawa Nobuo Prize
2018
Work: The Magic Hill
Organization: Ayukawa Nobuo Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Miyazawa Kenji Prize (Encouragement Award)
2019
Work: Shiuntenki, Sniffing Around: Iwate Walking Poems
Category: 奨励賞
Organization: Miyazawa Kenji Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Gendai-shi Hanatsubaki Prize
2015
Work: Blue Thunder
Organization: Hanatsubaki (Kodansha)
Result: 最終候補
Ayukawa Nobuo Prize (finalist)
2015
Work: Blue Thunder
Organization: Ayukawa Nobuo Prize Committee
Result: 最終候補

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Virus-chan

2011 Poetry collection

A collection of poems using microbes and viruses as motifs to explore estrangement, the observer's distance, and meditations on life and death and nature.

estrangementlife and deathnaturemicrobes

Spaceship and Baby

2014 Poetry collection

Poems intertwining images of the cosmos and infancy, where imagination and observation coexist.

cosmoschildhoodimagination

Blue Thunder

2014 Poetry collection

A collection that depicts nature and weather with images combining brutality and delicacy.

natureweathersensory perception

The Magic Hill

2017 Poetry collection

A volume blending fantasy and local memory, exploring the intersection of everyday life and mythic imagination.

fantasylandmemory

Shiuntenki, Sniffing Around: Iwate Walking Poems

2018 Poetry collection (walking poems)

Poems composed from walking in Iwate, observing landscape and bodily relation to place.

placewalkingobservation

Topography and Weather (co-authored)

2016 Poetry and translation (co-authored)

A collaborative work by multiple poets, a dialogic compilation of texts about topography and weather.

topographyweathercollaboration

Bibliography

  • Virus-chan (2011)
  • Spaceship and Baby (2014)
  • Blue Thunder (2014)
  • Topography and Weather (2016, co-authored)
  • The Magic Hill (2017)
  • Shiuntenki, Sniffing Around: Iwate Walking Poems (2018)

Adaptations

  • Edge "Poet Akagata Misei and Three Stories" (TV broadcast)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Delicate descriptive observation combined with fantastical imageryMetaphors linking everyday life and the cosmos
Recurring Motifs
naturecosmosmicrobes/virusesland and walking

Legacy

Recognized as a promising contemporary poet for her distinctive meditations on life and death and imaginative engagement with nature and the cosmos. Her award-winning collections have brought attention and influence among peers and readers.

In Popular Culture

  • Featured on a CS broadcast program (Edge)

Quotes

  • When I write poems I am not someone who comfortably fits into the circle of people... Viruses and microbes might represent that position of mine.
    Source: Gendai Shitecho, April 2012 (interview) (2012)

Trivia

  • Born in Yokohama.
  • Her father was a science teacher; she often went on field trips to mountains and collected plants and stones in childhood.
  • Traveled through Xinjiang (Uighur Autonomous Region) and Inner Mongolia while a student.
  • Maintains an official website and a Twitter account (link availability and update status may vary).