Japanese Literary Awards

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Yomiuri Literary Award よみうりぶんがくしょう

Edition 73 (2021)

NovelPlay/ScreenplayEssay/TravelogueCriticism/BiographyPoetry/HaikuResearch/Translation

Winners

6 people
Nao Kawamoto かわもと なお award

A provocative novel that intersects an imagined history of American literature with documentary form to portray the life of the legendary writer Julian Butler.

It borrows the shape of a biography to rebuild a writer myth from the ground up.

400 pages
American literaturebiographical fictionfictionalityliterary historynovel
Minoru Ozawa おざわ みのる award

The first volume of a literary travel essay in which Ozawa Minoru retraces Basho's journeys and examines the bond between place and haiku.

Following Basho's footsteps, it rereads the landscapes hidden in the poems.

312 pages
Bashohaikutravel writingliterary essayjourney
Yoko Hiramatsu ひらまつ ようこ award

The concluding volume that follows Basho from Oku no Hosomichi to his final years, completing the journey begun in the first volume.

It follows the Basho journey started in the first volume all the way to his final resting place.

440 pages
Bashohaikutravel writingliterary essayfinal years
Issei Yamamoto やまもと いっせい award

A personal essay collection that traces childhood memory and family time through the humble snack Bisuko.

From the snack her father wanted at the end of his life, family memory slowly unravels.

336 pages
essayfamilyfoodmemoryKurashiki
須永紀子 すなが のりこ award

A biography that carefully reads Uchida Hyakken's works and diaries to build a portrait of a difficult yet lovable literary giant.

Using Hyakken's words and diaries as clues, the outline of a writer grows sharper.

567 pages
biographyUchida Hyakkendiariesmodern literatureliterary history
Nozomi Kubota くぼた のぞみ award

A poetry collection that treats memory as the weight of time and follows birds into another world.

Memory becomes a weight, and language carries the reader toward light.

96 pages
poetrymemorybirdsrecoverylyricism