Chisako Wakatake (若竹 千佐子, Wakatake Chisako, born 1954) is a Japanese writer. Her 2017 book Ora ora de hitori igu mo won the Akutagawa Prize and the Bungei Prize.

Biography

Wakatake was born in 1954 in Tōno, Iwate, Japan.[1] She started writing while in school, but after graduating from Iwate University she worked briefly as a teacher, then married and became a housewife.[2][3] While working at home Wakatake wrote occasionally and won a small local literary prize for a story she submitted, but she never seriously pursued a writing career.[1][4] At the age of 55, after the death of her husband, she started writing full-time, drawing on her own experiences of age and loneliness.[5]

Wakatake's first book, Ora ora de hitori igu mo (I'll Live By Myself), about a Tōhoku dialect-speaking widow coping with life alone after the death of her husband, was published in 2017.[6] Ora ora de hitori igu mo won the 54th Bungei Prize, making Wakatake the oldest recipient of the award, at age 63.[7] Shortly thereafter it also won the 158th Akutagawa Prize, making Wakatake the second oldest recipient of the award.[6] After winning the Akutagawa Prize, Wakatake visited her hometown of Tōno, Iwate, where she received a local citizens' honor recognizing her for raising awareness of the town throughout Japan.[8]

Critic Roland Kelts, writing for The Times Literary Supplement, has described the themes of Wakatake's work as "loneliness and repressed turmoil."[9]

Personal life

Wakatake lives in Kisarazu, Chiba Prefecture.[1]

Recognition

Bibliography

  • Ora ora de hitori igumo, Kawade Shobō Shinsha, 2017, ISBN 9784309026374

References

  1. ^ a b c 山内, 宏泰 (January 23, 2018). "芥川賞受賞・若竹千佐子インタビュー「子どもよりもまず自分。経験を重ねてわかったこと」". Bunshun Online (in Japanese). Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  2. ^ "芥川賞に決まって　若竹千佐子　「どん底」の圧倒的な笑い". Sankei News (in Japanese). January 31, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "第54回文藝賞受賞作　若竹千佐子「おらおらでひとりいぐも」に決定" (in Japanese). Kawade Shobo Shinsha. August 31, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  4. ^ "フツーのおばちゃんから芥川賞作家になった若竹千佐子さん「才能じゃなく、経験値」山あり谷あり６３年". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). February 2, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  5. ^ "VOX POPULI: Dealing with the loneliness of running a long-distance life". Asahi Shimbun. January 18, 2018. Archived from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Chisako Wakatake and Yuka Ishii win Akutagawa literary award; Yoshinobu Kadoi bags Naoki Prize". The Japan Times. January 17, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  7. ^ "文芸賞 最年長・若竹千佐子さん「天にも昇る気持ち」". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). October 31, 2017. Archived from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  8. ^ 鹿糠, 亜裕美 (February 27, 2018). "芥川賞 若竹千佐子さん里帰り　岩手・遠野". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  9. ^ Kelts, Roland (June 20, 2018). "Japanese questions of the soul". The Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  10. ^ "芥川賞受賞者一覧" (in Japanese). 日本文学振興会. January 1, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.