Mainichi Publishing Culture Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 78 (2024) award
Erika Kobayashi
こばやし えりか
Kobayashi Erika
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1978-01-24 （Tokyo, Japan）
- Nationality
- Japanese
- Languages
- Japanese, Esperanto, English
- Residence History
- Tokyo, Japan → Banff, Canada (artist residency) → New York, USA (residency) → Estonia (residency) → France (CAMAC residency)
Career
- Occupations
- manga artist, writer, Esperantist, artist, playwright
- Active Years
- 2001-
- Memberships
- Japan PEN Club
- Influenced By
- Tsukasa Kobayashi
- Nominations
- 27th Mishima Yukio Prize — nominee (Madame Curie and Breakfast), 151st Akutagawa Prize — nominee (Madame Curie and Breakfast), 46th Noma Literary Newcomer Prize — nominee (Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs), 38th Mishima Yukio Prize — nominee (Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo | — | Interdisciplinary Information Studies | 修士（MA） | 1999-2001 | Japan |
Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo
Interdisciplinary Information Studies
Degree:
修士（MA）
Period:
1999-2001
Year of Graduation:
2001
Country:
Japan
Completed master's program
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 7th Tekken Heterotopia Literary Prize | Trinity, Trinity, Trinity | — | Tekken Heterotopia Literary Prize | 受賞 |
| 2022 | 44th Japan Sherlock Holmes Award (Encouragement Prize) | His Last Bow | — | Japan Sherlock Holmes Award | 奨励賞受賞 |
| 2024 | 78th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award (Literature & Arts) | Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs | 文学・芸術部門 | Mainichi Shimbun | 受賞 |
7th Tekken Heterotopia Literary Prize
2020
Work:
Trinity, Trinity, Trinity
Organization:
Tekken Heterotopia Literary Prize
Result:
受賞
44th Japan Sherlock Holmes Award (Encouragement Prize)
2022
Work:
His Last Bow
Organization:
Japan Sherlock Holmes Award
Result:
奨励賞受賞
78th Mainichi Publishing Culture Award (Literature & Arts)
2024
Work:
Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs
Category:
文学・芸術部門
Organization:
Mainichi Shimbun
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Nebersorp Land
2001 NovelAn early work collection in which dreams and reality intersect in a series of short pieces.
dreamsrealityidentity
Let's Meet on the Day of the Air Raids
2002 NovelStories revolving around war and memory, dealing with recollection and trauma.
warmemorytrauma
Endings and Beginnings
2006 Short story collectionA collection of short stories exploring separation, renewal, and the borders between the mundane and the uncanny.
separationrenewalboundaries
What Language Would Convey This Feeling?
2009 EssayAn essay collection about multilingualism and emotional expression, discussing differences among Esperanto, English and Japanese.
languageemotionmultilingualism
Dear Kitties
2011 EssaysA book of letters and short essays grounded in personal memory and observation.
memoryfamilyeveryday life
I Can't Forget
2013 NovelA novel about forgetting and attachment, portraying characters' loneliness and the echoes of memory.
forgettinglonelinessmemory
Children of Light 1
2013 Novel (series)First installment of a series depicting the world through children’s perspectives, with motifs of light and shadow.
childrenlight and darknessperspective
Madame Curie and Breakfast
2014 Novel / NovellaA novella that examines womanhood, images of scientists and modernity with a mix of critical perspective and poetic description.
womensciencehistory
She Peers into the Mirror
2017 NovelA novel using mirror motifs to explore relations between self and other, image and reality.
mirrorsself-recognitionimage
Trinity, Trinity, Trinity
2019 NovelA novel addressing multilingualism, identity and memory, characterized by attempts to traverse text and space.
languageidentitymemory
Adaptations
- [Exhibition] Trinity (exhibition at Karuizawa New Art Museum) (2017)
Translations
- French translation by Mathilde Tamaé-Bouhon (Dalva éditions, 2021)
- English translation by Brian Bergstrom (Astra House, 2022)
His Last Bow
2021 NovelA novel containing homage to Sherlock Holmes and elements of mystery.
mysteryhomagedetective fiction
Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs
2024 NovelA novel that reexamines history and memory through the eyes of girls during wartime; it has been adapted for the stage.
wargirlsmemoryhistory
Adaptations
- [Stage] Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs (Oji Hall stage production) (2023)
Bibliography
- Nebersorp Land
- Let's Meet on the Day of the Air Raids
- Endings and Beginnings
- What Language Would Convey This Feeling?
- Dear Kitties
- I Can't Forget
- Children of Light 1
- Children of Light 2
- Children of Light 3
- Madame Curie and Breakfast
- She Peers into the Mirror
- Trinity, Trinity, Trinity
- His Last Bow
- Darkness Is the Mother of Light (1): I Am a Girl Who Will Not Die
- Their War: Whisper in the Storm!
- Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs
Adaptations
- Radium Girls 2011 project UNDARK (music collaboration)
- Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs (stage, Oji Hall 2023)
- Girls, Spinning and Weaving (stage play, script)
Translations of Works
- 'Trinity, Trinity, Trinity' French translation by Mathilde Tamaé-Bouhon (Dalva éditions, 2021)
- 'Trinity, Trinity, Trinity' English translation by Brian Bergstrom (Astra House, 2022)
- 'SUNRISE: Radiant Stories' English translation by Brian Bergstrom (Astra House, 2023)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- poetic and fragmentary descriptionblend of everyday life and the fantasticstyle incorporating multilingual expression
- Recurring Motifs
- children and girlsmirrors and reflectionlight and darknesslanguage and translationwar and memory
Legacy
Erika Kobayashi is a writer and artist working across literature and contemporary art, known for works addressing multilingualism, children and war. Her books and exhibitions, as well as stage adaptations, have influenced contemporary critical discourse.
Museums
- Mori Art Museum Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan Opened in 2003
- Karuizawa New Art Museum Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan
- Hirosaki Renga Warehouse Museum Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan
- BORTOLAMI GALLERY, New York New York, USA (exhibited)
Academic Societies
- Japan PEN Club
Archives
- Official website (erikakobayashi.com)
- Yutaka Kikutake Gallery archive
In Popular Culture
- Stage adaptations (e.g. 'Girls, Making Paper Balloon Bombs')
- Illustrations for AC Japan / Plan International Japan support campaign (2023)
Quotes
-
"I don't want to be bound to the ideal shape of a mother."
Source: Asahi Shimbun interview: Naokoora Yamazaki × Erika Kobayashi (2020) -
"Language is both a border and a bridge."
Source: Essays and interviews (various) (2010)
Trivia
- Her father is writer and psychiatrist Tsukasa Kobayashi, known as a Sherlockian.
- She is active as an Esperantist.
- Has undertaken artist residencies (Banff 2003; Estonia/CAMAC 2006; New York 2007-2008).
- She has publicly acknowledged having children.
- Illustrated an AC Japan / Plan International Japan support campaign in 2023.