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Hiroko Oyamada

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Hiroko Oyamada
headshot crop of Oyamada at 2023 LiteratureXchange Festival
Oyamada in 2023
Native name
小山田 浩子
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Hiroshima, Japan
OccupationWriter
LanguageJapanese
Alma materHiroshima University
GenreFiction, short story
Notable works
Notable awards

Hiroko Oyamada (小山田 浩子, Oyamada Hiroko, born 1983) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Shincho Prize for New Writers, the Oda Sakunosuke Prize, and the Akutagawa Prize.

Early life and education

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Oyamada was born in Hiroshima and remained there throughout her school years, eventually graduating from Hiroshima University in 2006 with a degree in Japanese literature.[1][2] After graduation Oyamada changed jobs three times in five years, including her time working for a large factory that manufactured cars; an experience that inspired her debut story Kōjō (Factory), which received the 42nd Shincho Prize for New Writers in 2010.[3] After her debut Oyamada worked a part-time editorial job at a local magazine, but quit after marrying a co-worker.[4]

Influences on her works

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Oyamada's experience with switching jobs and working in a large company manufacturing cars acted as inspiration for her novella Kōjō (Factory).[5] During the creation of one of her other works, Ana (Hole), Oyamada herself had moved to the country side which is reflective of the main character of the novella. In both Kōjō and Ana, Oyamada "... came to a dead end, unable to find her way forward," until she was struck with an idea for each through either a trick of the eye or through a dream, allowing her to finish the novellas.[6]

Career

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In 2013 Oyamada won the 30th Oda Sakunosuke Prize for a short story collection containing "Kōjō" as the title story.[7] Later that year Oyamada's novella Ana (Hole), about a woman who falls into a hole, was published in the literary magazine Shinchō.[8] Ana won the 150th Akutagawa Prize.[9] One of the Akutagawa Prize judges, author Hiromi Kawakami, commended Oyamada's ability to write about "fantasy in a reality setting."[10] In 2014 Oyamada received the 5th Hiroshima Cultural Newcomer Award for her cultural contributions.[11] In 2018 Oyamada's third book, a short story collection called Niwa (Garden), was published by Shinchosha.[12][13]

An English edition of "Kōjō", translated by David Boyd, was published by New Directions Publishing under the title The Factory in 2019. Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Sam Sacks noted that the "tonal blandness" of the writing style matched the feeling of repetitive, meaningless office work.[14] In a starred review of The Factory for Publishers Weekly, Gabe Habash praised Oyamada's ability to make the reader experience the same disorientation as the book's main character, concluding that the book would leave readers "reeling and beguiled".[15]

Oyamada has cited Franz Kafka and Mario Vargas Llosa as literary influences.[16][4] In his review of Granta's special issue on Japanese literature, James Hadfield of The Japan Times compared Oyamada's writing to that of Yōko Ogawa and said that her work "suggests good things to come from this promising young writer."[17]

Oyamada lives in Hiroshima with her husband and daughter.[16]

Recognition

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Works

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In Japanese

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  • Kōjō (Factory), Shinchosha, 2013, ISBN 9784103336419
  • Ana (Hole), Shinchosha, 2014, ISBN 9784103336426
  • Niwa (Garden), Shinchosha, 2018, ISBN 9784103336433
  • Kojima (Islet), Shinchosha, 2021, ISBN 9784103336440

In English

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References

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  1. ^ "文学部卒業生の小山田浩子さんが、「新潮」新人賞を受賞しました" (in Japanese). Hiroshima University. January 19, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "第150回「芥川賞」は小山田浩子氏の『穴』 「直木賞」は朝井まかて氏と姫野カオルコ氏". Oricon News (in Japanese). January 16, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "【第42回新潮新人賞　受賞者インタビュー】" (in Japanese). Shinchosha. November 1, 2010. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  4. ^ a b 瀧井, 朝世. "作家の読書道". WEB本の雑誌 (in Japanese). Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  5. ^ "Hiroko Oyamada Wrote Her First Book, The Factory, in the Factory Where She Worked". Literary Hub. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  6. ^ "Hiroko Oyamada Wrote Her First Book, The Factory, in the Factory Where She Worked". Literary Hub. 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  7. ^ "Authors: Hiroko Oyamada". Books From Japan. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  8. ^ "第150回『芥川賞』に小山田浩子、『直木賞』に朝井まかて＆姫野カオルコ". Cinra.net (in Japanese). January 16, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  9. ^ "Literature prizes elevate women". The Japan Times. January 25, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  10. ^ "Three women win Akutagawa, Naoki literary awards". The Japan Times. January 17, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  11. ^ "第５回広島文化賞新人賞" (in Japanese). 公益財団法人ひろしま文化振興財団. November 1, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  12. ^ 瀧井, 朝世 (April 24, 2018). "芥川賞作家・小山田浩子が「フェティッシュ的に好き」なものって?". an an (in Japanese). Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  13. ^ 大竹, 昭子 (May 30, 2018). "作家・大竹昭子氏が読む『庭』（小山田浩子著）凝視が異界を立ち上げる". Sankei News (in Japanese). Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  14. ^ Sacks, Sam (October 25, 2019). "Store-Bought Solutions to All our Ills". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  15. ^ Habash, Gabe (July 16, 2019). "The Factory". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "小山田浩子さん「頭真っ白、ふわふわしてる」電話で". Sankei News (in Japanese). January 16, 2014. Archived from the original on November 21, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  17. ^ Hadfield, James (April 26, 2014). "'Granta' opens a window into Japanese literature". The Japan Times. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  18. ^ "これまでの織田作之助賞受賞作一覧 1984～2013 年" (PDF). 大阪文学振興会 (Osaka Literature Promotion Institute) (in Japanese). Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  19. ^ "芥川賞受賞者一覧" (in Japanese). 日本文学振興会. January 1, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  20. ^ Oyamada, Hiroko (April 24, 2014). "Spider Lilies". Translated by Winters Carpenter, Juliet. pp. 115–135. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  21. ^ Leichter, Hilary (2020-10-06). "She Tumbled Into a Hole, and Her World Broke Open". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  22. ^ Maloney, Iain (2020-09-26). "'The Hole': A fitting metaphor for a restrictive society". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  23. ^ "Weasels in the Attic a Book by Hiroko Oyamada and David Boyd". New Directions Publishing. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
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