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Miya Yamaoka

やまおか みや

Yamaoka Miya

Pen Names: Miya Yamaoka（Pen name used for literary activities (real name not disclosed)）

Profile

Gender
Unknown
Born
1985-00-00 （Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan）
Nationality
Japan
Languages
Japanese

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Poet
Active Years
2017-
Influenced By
Kyoka Izumi, Hyakken Uchida, Gustave Flaubert, Franz Kafka, Thomas Bernhard, Takehiko Fukunaga, Midori Ozaki, Shizuo Fujieda, Koji Uno, Yoko Tawada, Shigehiko Hasumi, Kenzaburo Oe, Kenji Nakagami, Shu Fujisawa, Mizuhito Kanehara

Education

Hosei University
Faculty of Sociology
Country: Japan
Attended seminars led by Shu Fujisawa and Mizuhito Kanehara

Awards

Subaru Literary Prize
2017
Work: Light Point
Organization: Shueisha
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Light Point

2018 Novel

Centered on a mother-and-daughter relationship, the novel depicts clumsy, exhausted characters and an atmosphere of darkness and an intangible 'presence'. It avoids autobiographical elements and is set in a non-specific locale. The work emphasizes prose and a structure that builds toward the ending.

mother-daughter relationshipsgaps in everyday lifean atmosphere of darkness/despairattention to depiction and language

Bibliography

  • Light Point (book, Shueisha, 2018)
  • On Grasping the Beginning of a Story (Seishun to Dokusho, Jan 2018)
  • A Feeling of Detour with Rose Net Cookies (Gunzo, Feb 2018)
  • Special Days Are Equally Rainy (Shincho, Apr 2018)
  • Seemingly 'Properly Change' (Eureka, Dec 2014)
  • Staying Repeatedly in the Same Town (Eureka, Jul 2015)
  • Down to the Dermis (Eureka, Aug 2015)
  • Same, Sea Star (Gendai Shicho, Aug 2015)
  • Terminus or Point (Gendai Shicho, Oct 2015)
  • Red Heart (Eureka, Nov 2015)
  • Rezanfanterible (Gendai Shicho, May 2018)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
poetic imagery layered in descriptionmeticulous attention to detail and vocabularyaims for a gender-neutral and neutral narrative stance
Recurring Motifs
an atmosphere of darkness/despairmother-and-daughter relationshipsdepictions of bare feet touching the groundcolor associations with numbers (synesthesia-like descriptions)

Health

  • nyctalopia (difficulty seeing in low light) and astigmatism
    Reduced visibility in low-light conditions; may affect prolonged reading or movement in darkness.
  • poor sense of direction
    May cause difficulty navigating unfamiliar places.
  • color-number associations (synesthesia-like perception)
    May provide unique sensory expressions that influence her writing and poetry.

Legacy

A promising new writer who gained attention after winning the 41st Subaru Literary Prize. Critics and peers praise her commitment to language and the subtle devices in her details; further works are highly anticipated.

Archives

  • National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) holdings
  • VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) entry

Quotes

  • What makes me happiest above all is that I can still, after all, continue to write.
    Source: Acceptance remarks for the 41st Subaru Literary Prize (Subaru, Nov 2017) (2017)
  • I myself thought that people's impressions of my work might not be something that can easily be put into words.
    Source: Interview (Seishun to Dokusho, Feb 2018; conversation with Hikaru Okuizumi) (2018)

Trivia

  • Real name is not publicly disclosed
  • Made her novelist debut by winning the 41st Subaru Literary Prize (2017)
  • Debut novel 'Light Point' was published in book form on Feb 5, 2018
  • Poems have appeared in Eureka and Gendai Shicho (Gendai Poetry Magazine)
  • Graduated from Hosei University, Faculty of Sociology
  • Received an honorable mention in the Oda Sakunosuke 'Seishun' prize under a different pen name during student days
  • Studied in seminars led by Shu Fujisawa and Mizuhito Kanehara