Chisako Wakatake

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.

Chisako Wakatake
Native name
若竹 千佐子
Born1954 (age 66–67)
Tōno, Iwate, Japan
OccupationWriter
LanguageJapanese
Alma materIwate University
GenreFiction
Notable worksOra ora de hitori igu mo
Notable awards

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. 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. "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. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  6. "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. 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.
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