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{{short description|Japanese writer}}
{{nihongo|'''Yōko Ogawa'''|小川 洋子|Ogawa Yōko|born March 30, 1962}} is a ] writer.
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see ] -->
| name = Yōko Ogawa
| awards = {{awd|]|1990}}
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|3|30|mf=y}}
| birth_place = ], ], Japan
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = ], ] writer, ]
| nationality = Japanese
| period = 1980–present
| genre =
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = '']'', '']''
| influences =
| influenced =
| website =
}}
{{nihongo|'''Yōko Ogawa'''|小川 洋子|Ogawa Yōko|born March 30, 1962}} is a ] writer. Her work has won every major Japanese literary award, including the ] and the ].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yoko Ogawa|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1060719/yoko-ogawa.html?tab=penguin-biography|access-date=2022-02-09|website=www.penguin.co.uk}}</ref> Internationally, she has been the recipient of the ] and the ].<ref name=associatedpress/> '']'' was also shortlisted for the ] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 2020 International Booker Prize {{!}} The Booker Prizes|url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/international/2020|access-date=2022-02-09|website=thebookerprizes.com|language=en}}</ref>

Some of her most well known works include ''], ]'' and ''Hotel Iris''.


==Background and education== ==Background and education==
Ogawa was born in ], ]. Growing up in a family that followed the ] religion, she was influenced by her upbringing in a household with deep religious and educational values.<ref>Green, Ronald S. (2018). Konkōkyō Religious Ideas in the Writings of Ogawa Yōko. Japanese Studies, 38(2), 189–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2018.1509670</ref> She graduated with a degree in literature from ], Tokyo.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=August's Author of the Month: YOKO OGAWA - McNally Robinson Booksellers|url=https://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/editorial-5760/August%27s-Author-of-the-Month-YOKO-OGAWA|access-date=2022-02-09|website=www.mcnallyrobinson.com|language=en}}</ref> When she married her husband, a steel company engineer, she quit her job as a medical university secretary and wrote while her husband was at work.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2019-08-22|title=Meet the Japanese writer inspired by the wisdom of Anne Frank|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/anne-frank-diary-yoko-ogawa-japanese-writer-a9069086.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/anne-frank-diary-yoko-ogawa-japanese-writer-a9069086.html |archive-date=2022-05-07 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2022-02-09|website=The Independent|language=en}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Initially, she wrote only as a hobby, and her husband didn't realise she was a writer until her debut novel, ''The Breaking of the Butterfly'', received a literary prize.<ref name=":1" /> Her novella ''Pregnancy Diary,'' written in brief intervals when her son was a toddler, won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for literature, thus cementing her reputation in Japan.<ref name=":1" />
Ogawa was born in ], ], graduated from ], and lives in ], with her husband and son.

She currently{{when|date=March 2022}} lives in ]<!--The source says no more-->.<ref name=":0" />


==Career== ==Career==
Since 1988, Ogawa has published more than twenty works of fiction and nonfiction. In 2006 she co-authored "An Introduction to the World's Most Elegant Mathematics" with ], a mathematician, as a dialogue on the extraordinary beauty of numbers. Since 1988, Ogawa has published more than fifty works of fiction and nonfiction. Much of her work has yet to be translated into English. In 2006, she worked alongside the mathematician ] to co-write "An Introduction to the World's Most Elegant Mathematics", a dialogue on the extraordinary beauty of numbers.<ref name=":0" />


Her work has been published in the ], ] and ].
] has said, "Yoko Ogawa is able to give expression to the most subtle workings of human psychology in prose that is gentle yet penetrating."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.macmillan.com/thedivingpool |title=The Diving Pool: Three Novellas |author= |date= |work= |publisher=] |accessdate=5 January 2011}}</ref> The subtlety in part lies in the fact that Ogawa's characters often seem not to know why they are doing what they are doing. She works by accumulation of detail, a technique that is perhaps more successful in her shorter works; the slow pace of development in the longer works requires something of a ] to end them. The reader is presented with an acute description of what the protagonists, mostly but not always female, observe and feel and their somewhat alienated self-observations, some of which is a reflection of Japanese society and especially women's roles within it. The tone of her works varies, across the works and sometimes within the longer works, from the surreal, through the grotesque and the —sometimes grotesquely— humorous, to the psychologically ambiguous and even disturbing. (''Hotel Iris'', one of her longer works, is more explicit sexually than her other works and is also her most widely translated.)


A film in French, '']'' (''The Ringfinger''), based in part on Ogawa's ''Kusuriyubi no hyōhon'' (薬指の標本), was released in France in June 2005. Her novel '']'' was made into the movie '']''. The 2005 French film '']'' (''The Ringfinger'') was based in part on Ogawa's ''Kusuriyubi no hyōhon''. Her novel '']'' was adapted into the movie '']''. In partnership with Amazon studios, ] and ] are set to adapt ''The Memory Police.''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|date=2020-10-08|title=Amazon Studios Sets Reed Morano To Direct, Charlie Kaufman To Adapt Yōko Ogawa Novel 'The Memory Police'|url=https://deadline.com/2020/10/the-memory-police-amazon-studios-reed-morano-direct-charlie-kaufman-script-yoko-ogawa-novel-1234593971/|access-date=2022-02-09|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>


== Themes and influences ==
==Prizes==
] has said, "Yoko Ogawa is able to give expression to the most subtle workings of human psychology in prose that is gentle yet penetrating."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://us.macmillan.com/thedivingpool |title=The Diving Pool: Three Novellas |publisher=] |access-date=5 January 2011}}</ref> Her English translator, Stephen Snyder, has said that “There is a naturalness to what she writes so it never feels forced...Her narrative seems to be flowing from a source that’s hard to identify.”<ref name=":1" />
* 1988 Kaien literary Prize(]) for her debut ''The Breaking of the Butterfly'' (Agehacho ga kowareru toki, 揚羽蝶が壊れる時)<ref name="evene">{{cite web |url=http://www.evene.fr/celebre/biographie/yoko-ogawa-16052.php |title=Biographie de Yôko Ogawa |language=French |author= |date= |work=] |publisher=] |accessdate=5 January 2011}}</ref>

* 1990 ] for ''Pregnancy Calendar'' (Ninshin karendaa, 妊娠 カレンダー)<ref name="evene"/>
Frequently, she explores the theme of memory in her works. For instance, ''The Housekeeper and the Professor'' follows a mathematics professor who cannot remember anything for longer than eighty minutes, and ''The Memory Police'' is about a group of islanders who gradually forget the existence of certain things, such as birds or flowers.<ref name=":1" /> Human cruelty features as another prominent theme in her work, as she is interested in exploring what drives people to commit acts of physical or emotional violence.<ref name=":1" /> She often writes about female bodies and the woman's role in a family, which has led many to label her as a feminist writer. Ogawa is hesitatant about this label, stating instead that she "just peeked into and took notes from what they were doing".<ref name=":1" />
* 2004 ] for ''The Professor's Beloved Equation'' (Hakase no aishita sushiki, 博士の愛した数式; translated as '']'')

* 2004 ] Prize for Burafuman no maisō, ブラフマンの埋葬
'']'' has been a significant source of inspiration to her throughout her career. She first encountered the diary as a teenager, and was inspired to start a diary of her own, writing back to Anne as though they were friends. She notes how “Anne’s heart and mind were so rich,” and that “her diary proved that people can grow even in such a confined situation. And writing could give people freedom.”<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rich|first=Motoko|date=2019-08-12|title=Yoko Ogawa Conjures Spirits in Hiding: 'I Just Peeked Into Their World and Took Notes'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/books/yoko-ogawa-memory-police.html|access-date=2022-02-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Given its themes of persecution and confinement, ''The Memory Police'' in particular is a response to Anne's diary and the ] in general.
* 2006 ] for ''Meena's March'' (Mīna no kōshin, ミーナの行進)

* 2008 ] for "The Diving Pool"
While at Waseda University, she was influenced by fellow Japanese authors such as ], ], and ].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2020-03-27|title=Writer Ogawa Yōko's Stories of Memory and Loss|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/people/bg900133/writer-ogawa-yoko’s-stories-of-memory-and-loss.html|access-date=2022-02-09|website=nippon.com|language=en}}</ref> She also felt influenced by the American author ], who she believes “writes a spoken literature—it feels like he’s written down a story someone told him, rather than creating it himself. Shibata’s translation was also very important, but when I read Moon Palace I thought ‘This is how I’d like to write.’ Like I’m just a medium for transferring a story from the world outside.”<ref name=":2" />

==Awards and honors==
* 1988: Kaien Literary Prize (]) for her debut ''The Breaking of the Butterfly'' (Agehacho ga kowareru toki, 揚羽蝶が壊れる時)
* 1990: ] for ''Pregnancy Diary'' (Ninshin karendaa, 妊娠 カレンダー)
* 2004: ], Bookseller's Award for ''The Professor's Beloved Equation'' (Hakase no aishita sūshiki, 博士の愛した数式; translated as '']'')
* 2004: ] for Burafuman no maisō, ブラフマンの埋葬
* 2006: ] for ] (Mīna no kōshin, ミーナの行進)
* 2008: ] for '']''
* 2014: ] shortlist for '']'' (Japanese; trans. Stephen Snyder)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/08/karl-ove-knausgaard-short-stories-on-independent-foreign-fiction-prize-shortlist |title=Knausgaard heads Independent foreign fiction prize shortlist |work=The Guardian |author=Alison Flood |date=8 April 2014 |access-date=April 10, 2014}}</ref>
* 2020: ] for ''The Memory Police'' (Japanese; trans. Stephen Snyder)<ref name=associatedpress>{{cite web|url= https://apnews.com/arts-and-entertainment-general-news-8c4cb4c7193622a84620f65a158cdf3b |title= George Takei, Ocean Vuong win American Book Awards |work= ] |date= September 15, 2020 |access-date= December 22, 2023 |archive-date= December 22, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231222130810/https://apnews.com/arts-and-entertainment-general-news-8c4cb4c7193622a84620f65a158cdf3b |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2021: ]<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20211101-OYT1T50299/|title= 秋の褒章、808人・22団体…紫綬褒章はソフト「金」の上野由岐子さんら最多90人|access-date= November 2, 2021|work= Yomiuri Shimbun|date= 2 November 2021}}</ref>
* 2022: ] International Writer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rsliterature.org/rsl-international-writers/|title=RSL International Writers|date=3 September 2023 |publisher=Royal Society of Literature|access-date=December 3, 2023}}</ref>


==Works in English translation== ==Works in English translation==
* ''The Man Who Sold Braces'' (Gibusu o uru hito, ギブスを売る人, 1998); translated by Shibata Motoyuki, ''Manoa, 13.1'', 2001.
*''Transit'' (Toranjitto, トランジット, 1996); translated by Alisa Freedman, ''Japanese Art: The Scholarship and Legacy of Chino Kaori'', special issue of ''Review of Japanese Culture and Society'', vol. XV (Center for Inter-Cultural Studies and Education, Josai University, December 2003): 114-125. ISSN 0913-4700
* ''The Cafeteria in the Evening and a Pool in the Rain'' (Yūgure no kyūshoku shitsu to ame no pūru, 夕暮れの給食室と雨のプール, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, '']'', 9/2004.
* ''Pregnancy Diary'' (Ninshin karendā, 妊娠カレンダー, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, '']'', 12/2005.
* ''The Diving Pool: Three Novellas'' (Daibingu puru, ダイヴィング・プール, 1990; Ninshin karendā, 妊娠カレンダー, 1991; Dormitory, ドミトリイ, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York: Picador, 2008. ISBN 0-312-42683-6
* '']'' (Hakase no ai shita sūshiki, 博士の愛した数式, 2003); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York : Picador, 2008. ISBN 0-312-42780-8
* ''Hotel Iris'' (Hoteru Airisu, ホテル・アイリス, 1996)
* ''Revenge'', Translated by Stephen Snyder, Picador, 2013


=== Novels and novellas ===
==Other works==
* '']'' (Daibingu puru, ダイヴィング・プール, 1990; Ninshin karendā, 妊娠カレンダー, 1991; Dormitory, ドミトリイ, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York: Picador, 2008. {{ISBN|0-312-42683-6}}; published on The New York Times in 2006
;Most frequently translated (though not yet in English)
* ''The Ring Finger'' (Kusuriyubi no hyōhon, 薬指の標本, 1994; available in French, German, Greek, Italian) * '']'' (Hisoyaka na kesshō, 密やかな結晶, 1994), translated by Stephen Snyder, Pantheon Books, 2019.
*''Hotel Iris'' (Hoteru Airisu, ホテル・アイリス, 1996), translated by Stephen Snyder, Picador, 2010.
* ''Love in the Margin'' (Yohaku no ai, 余白の愛, 1991; available in French, German, Polish)
* '']'' (Hakase no ai shita sūshiki, 博士の愛した数式, 2003); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York : Picador, 2008. {{ISBN|0-312-42780-8}}
* ''The Museum of Silence'' (Chinmoku hakubutsukan, 沈黙博物館, 2000; available in French, German, Polish)
* ] ''(Mīna no kōshin'', ミーナの行進, 2006); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York: Pantheon, London: Harvill Secker, 2024.


=== Short stories and collections ===
;Other works (some translated to French)

* ''Kanpeki na byōshitsu'', 完璧な病室, 1989
* "Pregnancy Diary" (Ninshin karendā, 妊娠カレンダー, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, '']'', 12/2005.
* "The Cafeteria in the Evening and a Pool in the Rain" (Yūgure no kyūshoku shitsu to ame no pūru, 夕暮れの給食室と雨のプール, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, '']'', 9/2004.
* "Transit" (Toranjitto, トランジット, 1996); translated by Alisa Freedman, ''Japanese Art: The Scholarship and Legacy of Chino Kaori'', special issue of '']'', Vol. XV (Center for Inter-Cultural Studies and Education, Josai University, December 2003): 114-125. {{ISSN|0913-4700}}
* "The Man Who Sold Braces" (Gibusu o uru hito, ギブスを売る人, 1998); translated by Motoyuki Shibata, ''Manoa, 13.1'', 2001.
* '']'' (Kamoku na shigai, midara na tomurai, 寡黙な死骸みだらな弔い,1998) Translated by Stephen Snyder, Picador, 2013.

==Other works==
* ''Agehachō ga kowareru toki'', 揚羽蝶が壊れる時, 1989, Kaien Prize * ''Agehachō ga kowareru toki'', 揚羽蝶が壊れる時, 1989, Kaien Prize
* ''Kanpeki na byōshitsu'', 完璧な病室, 1989
* ''Same nai kōcha'', 冷めない紅茶, 1990 * ''Same nai kōcha'', 冷めない紅茶, 1990
* ''Shugā taimu'', シュガータイム, 1991 * ''Shugā taimu'', シュガータイム, 1991
* ''Angelina sano motoharu to 10 no tanpen'', アンジェリーナ―佐野元春と10の短編, 1993 * ''Yohaku no ai'', 余白の愛, 1992
* ''Angelina Sano Motoharu to 10 no tanpen'', アンジェリーナ―佐野元春と10の短編, 1993
* ''Yōsei ga mai oriru yoru'', 妖精が舞い下りる夜, 1993 * ''Yōsei ga mai oriru yoru'', 妖精が舞い下りる夜, 1993
* ''Hisoyaka na kesshō'', 密やかな結晶, 1994 * ''Hisoyaka na kesshō'', 密やかな結晶, 1994
* ''Kusuriyubi no hyōhon'', 薬指の標本, 1994
* ''Rokukakukei no shō heya'', 六角形の小部屋, 1994 * ''Rokukakukei no shō heya'', 六角形の小部屋, 1994
* ''Anne Furanku no kioku'', アンネ・フランクの記憶, 1995 * ''Anne Furanku no kioku'', アンネ・フランクの記憶, 1995
* ''Shishū suru shōjo'', 刺繍する少女, 1996 * ''Shishū suru shōjo'', 刺繍する少女, 1996
* ''Yasashī uttae'', やさしい訴え, 1996 * {{transl|ja|Yasashī uttae}}, やさしい訴え, 1996
* ''Kamoku na shigai, midara na tomurai'', 寡黙な死骸みだらな弔い, 1998
* ''Kōritsui ta kaori'', 凍りついた香り, 1998 * ''Kōritsui ta kaori'', 凍りついた香り, 1998
* ''Kamoku na shigai, midara na tomurai'', 寡黙な死骸みだらな弔い, 1998
** in German: ''Das Ende des Bengalischen Tigers. Ein Roman in elf Geschichten''. Liebeskind, München 2011. ISBN 978-3-935890-75-5.
* ''Fukaki kokoro no soko yori'', 深き心の底より, 1999 * ''Fukaki kokoro no soko yori'', 深き心の底より, 1999
* ''Gūzen no shukufuku'', 偶然の祝福, 2000 * ''Gūzen no shukufuku'', 偶然の祝福, 2000
* ''Chinmoku hakubutsukan'', 沈黙博物館, 2000
* ''Mabuta'', まぶた, 2001 * ''Mabuta'', まぶた, 2001
* ''Kifujin A no sosei'', 貴婦人Aの蘇生, 2002 * ''Kifujin A no sosei'', 貴婦人Aの蘇生, 2002
* ''Burafuman no maisō'', ブラフマンの埋葬, 2004, Izumi Prize * ''Burafuman no maisō'', ブラフマンの埋葬, 2004, ]
* ''Yo ni mo utsukushī sūgaku nyūmon'', 世にも美しい数学入門, 2005 (''An Introduction to the World's Most Elegant Mathematics'') * ''Yo ni mo utsukushī sūgaku nyūmon'', 世にも美しい数学入門, 2005 (''An Introduction to the World's Most Elegant Mathematics'')
* ''Inu no shippo o nade nagara'', 犬のしっぽを撫でながら, 2006 * ''Inu no shippo o nade nagara'', 犬のしっぽを撫でながら, 2006
* ''Otogibanashi no wasuremono'', おとぎ話の忘れ物, 2006 (illustrated) * ''Otogibanashi no wasuremono'', おとぎ話の忘れ物, 2006 (illustrated)
* ''Mīna no kōshin'', ミーナの行進, 2006 (illustrated), Tanizaki Prize
* ''Umi'', 海 2006 * ''Umi'', 海 2006
* ''Ogawa Yōko taiwa shū'', 小川洋子 対話集, 2007 (conversations) * ''Hajimete no bungaku Ogawa Yōko'', はじめての文学 小川洋子 2007
* ''Hakase no hondana'', 博士の本棚, 2007
* ''Monogatari no yakuwari'', 物語の役割, 2007 * ''Monogatari no yakuwari'', 物語の役割, 2007
* ''Ogawa Yōko taiwa shū'', 小川洋子 対話集, 2007 (conversations)
* ''Yoake no Fuchi wo Samayou Hitobito'', 夜明けの縁をさ迷う人々, 2007
* ''Neko wo idaite zou to oyogu'', 猫を抱いて象と泳ぐ, 2009 * ''Yoake no fuchi wo samayou hitobito'', 夜明けの縁をさ迷う人々, 2007
* ''Kagaku no tobira wo nokku suru'', 科学の扉をノックする, 2008
* ''Karā hiyoko to kōhīmame'', カラーひよことコーヒー豆, 2009
* ''Kokoro to hibikiau dokusho annai'', 心と響き合う読書案内, 2009
* ''Neko wo daite zou to oyogu'', 猫を抱いて象と泳ぐ, 2009
* ''Genkou reimai nikki'', 原稿零枚日記, 2010 * ''Genkou reimai nikki'', 原稿零枚日記, 2010
* ''Moso kibun'', 妄想気分, 2011
* ''Hitojichi no roudokukai'', 人質の朗読会, 2011 * ''Hitojichi no roudokukai'', 人質の朗読会, 2011
* ''Tonikaku sanpo itashimasho'', とにかく散歩いたしましょう, 2012
* ''Kotori'', ことり, 2012
* ''Saihate ākēdo'', 最果てアーケード, 2012
* ''Itsumo karera wa dokoka ni'', いつも彼らはどこかに, 2013
* ''Kohaku no matataki'', 琥珀のまたたき, 2015
* ''Fujichaku suru ryūsei tachi'', 不時着する流星たち, 2017
* ''Kuchibue no jōzu na shirayukihime'', 口笛の上手な白雪姫, 2018
* ''Kobako'', 小箱, 2019
* ''Yakusoku sareta idō, 約束された移動, 2019


==References== ==References==
<references /> <references />

==Interviews==
* (by Kimie Itakura),', March 2020

==External links==
* {{in lang|en}}

{{Portal|Novels|Japan}} {{Portal|Novels|Japan}}


{{Akutagawa Prize winners}}
{{Authority control|VIAF=66571703}}
{{American Book Awards (2020-2039)}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
{{Authority control}}
| NAME =Ogawa, Yoko

| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1962
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogawa, Yoko}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogawa, Yoko}}
] ]
] ]
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Latest revision as of 18:19, 27 October 2024

Japanese writer
Yōko Ogawa
Born (1962-03-30) March 30, 1962 (age 62)
Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
OccupationNovelist, short story writer, essayist
NationalityJapanese
Period1980–present
Notable worksThe Housekeeper and the Professor, The Memory Police
Notable awardsAkutagawa Prize
1990

Yōko Ogawa (小川 洋子, Ogawa Yōko, born March 30, 1962) is a Japanese writer. Her work has won every major Japanese literary award, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Yomiuri Prize. Internationally, she has been the recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award and the American Book Award. The Memory Police was also shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020.

Some of her most well known works include The Housekeeper and the Professor, The Diving Pool and Hotel Iris.

Background and education

Ogawa was born in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. Growing up in a family that followed the Konkōkyō religion, she was influenced by her upbringing in a household with deep religious and educational values. She graduated with a degree in literature from Waseda University, Tokyo. When she married her husband, a steel company engineer, she quit her job as a medical university secretary and wrote while her husband was at work. Initially, she wrote only as a hobby, and her husband didn't realise she was a writer until her debut novel, The Breaking of the Butterfly, received a literary prize. Her novella Pregnancy Diary, written in brief intervals when her son was a toddler, won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for literature, thus cementing her reputation in Japan.

She currently lives in Ashiya, Japan.

Career

Since 1988, Ogawa has published more than fifty works of fiction and nonfiction. Much of her work has yet to be translated into English. In 2006, she worked alongside the mathematician Masahiko Fujiwara to co-write "An Introduction to the World's Most Elegant Mathematics", a dialogue on the extraordinary beauty of numbers.

Her work has been published in the New Yorker, A Public Space and Zoetrope.

The 2005 French film L'Annulaire (The Ringfinger) was based in part on Ogawa's Kusuriyubi no hyōhon. Her novel The Housekeeper and the Professor was adapted into the movie The Professor's Beloved Equation. In partnership with Amazon studios, Reed Morano and Charlie Kaufman are set to adapt The Memory Police.

Themes and influences

Kenzaburō Ōe has said, "Yoko Ogawa is able to give expression to the most subtle workings of human psychology in prose that is gentle yet penetrating." Her English translator, Stephen Snyder, has said that “There is a naturalness to what she writes so it never feels forced...Her narrative seems to be flowing from a source that’s hard to identify.”

Frequently, she explores the theme of memory in her works. For instance, The Housekeeper and the Professor follows a mathematics professor who cannot remember anything for longer than eighty minutes, and The Memory Police is about a group of islanders who gradually forget the existence of certain things, such as birds or flowers. Human cruelty features as another prominent theme in her work, as she is interested in exploring what drives people to commit acts of physical or emotional violence. She often writes about female bodies and the woman's role in a family, which has led many to label her as a feminist writer. Ogawa is hesitatant about this label, stating instead that she "just peeked into and took notes from what they were doing".

The Diary of Anne Frank has been a significant source of inspiration to her throughout her career. She first encountered the diary as a teenager, and was inspired to start a diary of her own, writing back to Anne as though they were friends. She notes how “Anne’s heart and mind were so rich,” and that “her diary proved that people can grow even in such a confined situation. And writing could give people freedom.” Given its themes of persecution and confinement, The Memory Police in particular is a response to Anne's diary and the Holocaust in general.

While at Waseda University, she was influenced by fellow Japanese authors such as Mieko Kanai, Kenzaburō Ōe, and Haruki Murakami. She also felt influenced by the American author Paul Auster, who she believes “writes a spoken literature—it feels like he’s written down a story someone told him, rather than creating it himself. Shibata’s translation was also very important, but when I read Moon Palace I thought ‘This is how I’d like to write.’ Like I’m just a medium for transferring a story from the world outside.”

Awards and honors

Works in English translation

Novels and novellas

  • The Diving Pool (Daibingu puru, ダイヴィング・プール, 1990; Ninshin karendā, 妊娠カレンダー, 1991; Dormitory, ドミトリイ, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York: Picador, 2008. ISBN 0-312-42683-6; published on The New York Times in 2006
  • The Memory Police (Hisoyaka na kesshō, 密やかな結晶, 1994), translated by Stephen Snyder, Pantheon Books, 2019.
  • Hotel Iris (Hoteru Airisu, ホテル・アイリス, 1996), translated by Stephen Snyder, Picador, 2010.
  • The Housekeeper and the Professor (Hakase no ai shita sūshiki, 博士の愛した数式, 2003); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York : Picador, 2008. ISBN 0-312-42780-8
  • Mina's Matchbox (Mīna no kōshin, ミーナの行進, 2006); translated by Stephen Snyder, New York: Pantheon, London: Harvill Secker, 2024.

Short stories and collections

  • "Pregnancy Diary" (Ninshin karendā, 妊娠カレンダー, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, The New Yorker, 12/2005. Read here
  • "The Cafeteria in the Evening and a Pool in the Rain" (Yūgure no kyūshoku shitsu to ame no pūru, 夕暮れの給食室と雨のプール, 1991); translated by Stephen Snyder, The New Yorker, 9/2004. Read here
  • "Transit" (Toranjitto, トランジット, 1996); translated by Alisa Freedman, Japanese Art: The Scholarship and Legacy of Chino Kaori, special issue of Review of Japanese Culture and Society, Vol. XV (Center for Inter-Cultural Studies and Education, Josai University, December 2003): 114-125. ISSN 0913-4700
  • "The Man Who Sold Braces" (Gibusu o uru hito, ギブスを売る人, 1998); translated by Motoyuki Shibata, Manoa, 13.1, 2001.
  • Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales (Kamoku na shigai, midara na tomurai, 寡黙な死骸みだらな弔い,1998) Translated by Stephen Snyder, Picador, 2013.

Other works

  • Agehachō ga kowareru toki, 揚羽蝶が壊れる時, 1989, Kaien Prize
  • Kanpeki na byōshitsu, 完璧な病室, 1989
  • Same nai kōcha, 冷めない紅茶, 1990
  • Shugā taimu, シュガータイム, 1991
  • Yohaku no ai, 余白の愛, 1992
  • Angelina Sano Motoharu to 10 no tanpen, アンジェリーナ―佐野元春と10の短編, 1993
  • Yōsei ga mai oriru yoru, 妖精が舞い下りる夜, 1993
  • Hisoyaka na kesshō, 密やかな結晶, 1994
  • Kusuriyubi no hyōhon, 薬指の標本, 1994
  • Rokukakukei no shō heya, 六角形の小部屋, 1994
  • Anne Furanku no kioku, アンネ・フランクの記憶, 1995
  • Shishū suru shōjo, 刺繍する少女, 1996
  • Yasashī uttae, やさしい訴え, 1996
  • Kamoku na shigai, midara na tomurai, 寡黙な死骸みだらな弔い, 1998
  • Kōritsui ta kaori, 凍りついた香り, 1998
  • Fukaki kokoro no soko yori, 深き心の底より, 1999
  • Gūzen no shukufuku, 偶然の祝福, 2000
  • Chinmoku hakubutsukan, 沈黙博物館, 2000
  • Mabuta, まぶた, 2001
  • Kifujin A no sosei, 貴婦人Aの蘇生, 2002
  • Burafuman no maisō, ブラフマンの埋葬, 2004, Izumi Kyōka Prize
  • Yo ni mo utsukushī sūgaku nyūmon, 世にも美しい数学入門, 2005 (An Introduction to the World's Most Elegant Mathematics)
  • Inu no shippo o nade nagara, 犬のしっぽを撫でながら, 2006
  • Otogibanashi no wasuremono, おとぎ話の忘れ物, 2006 (illustrated)
  • Umi, 海 2006
  • Hajimete no bungaku Ogawa Yōko, はじめての文学 小川洋子 2007
  • Hakase no hondana, 博士の本棚, 2007
  • Monogatari no yakuwari, 物語の役割, 2007
  • Ogawa Yōko taiwa shū, 小川洋子 対話集, 2007 (conversations)
  • Yoake no fuchi wo samayou hitobito, 夜明けの縁をさ迷う人々, 2007
  • Kagaku no tobira wo nokku suru, 科学の扉をノックする, 2008
  • Karā hiyoko to kōhīmame, カラーひよことコーヒー豆, 2009
  • Kokoro to hibikiau dokusho annai, 心と響き合う読書案内, 2009
  • Neko wo daite zou to oyogu, 猫を抱いて象と泳ぐ, 2009
  • Genkou reimai nikki, 原稿零枚日記, 2010
  • Moso kibun, 妄想気分, 2011
  • Hitojichi no roudokukai, 人質の朗読会, 2011
  • Tonikaku sanpo itashimasho, とにかく散歩いたしましょう, 2012
  • Kotori, ことり, 2012
  • Saihate ākēdo, 最果てアーケード, 2012
  • Itsumo karera wa dokoka ni, いつも彼らはどこかに, 2013
  • Kohaku no matataki, 琥珀のまたたき, 2015
  • Fujichaku suru ryūsei tachi, 不時着する流星たち, 2017
  • Kuchibue no jōzu na shirayukihime, 口笛の上手な白雪姫, 2018
  • Kobako, 小箱, 2019
  • Yakusoku sareta idō, 約束された移動, 2019

References

  1. "Yoko Ogawa". www.penguin.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  2. ^ "George Takei, Ocean Vuong win American Book Awards". Associated Press. September 15, 2020. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  3. "The 2020 International Booker Prize | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  4. Green, Ronald S. (2018). Konkōkyō Religious Ideas in the Writings of Ogawa Yōko. Japanese Studies, 38(2), 189–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2018.1509670
  5. ^ "August's Author of the Month: YOKO OGAWA - McNally Robinson Booksellers". www.mcnallyrobinson.com. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  6. ^ "Meet the Japanese writer inspired by the wisdom of Anne Frank". The Independent. 2019-08-22. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  7. Fleming, Mike Jr. (2020-10-08). "Amazon Studios Sets Reed Morano To Direct, Charlie Kaufman To Adapt Yōko Ogawa Novel 'The Memory Police'". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  8. "The Diving Pool: Three Novellas". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  9. Rich, Motoko (2019-08-12). "Yoko Ogawa Conjures Spirits in Hiding: 'I Just Peeked Into Their World and Took Notes'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  10. ^ "Writer Ogawa Yōko's Stories of Memory and Loss". nippon.com. 2020-03-27. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  11. Alison Flood (8 April 2014). "Knausgaard heads Independent foreign fiction prize shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  12. "秋の褒章、808人・22団体…紫綬褒章はソフト「金」の上野由岐子さんら最多90人". Yomiuri Shimbun. 2 November 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  13. "RSL International Writers". Royal Society of Literature. 3 September 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.

Interviews

External links

List of Akutagawa Prize winners
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American Book Awards winners (2020 – to present)
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