Biographies
of Authors
Contemporary Literature Category
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Idogawa Iko
Poet, Novelist
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Born in 1987. Graduated School of Sociology, Kwansei Gakuin University. Published her first poetry collection, Suru, Sareru Utopia in a private edition in 2018, which received the 24th Nakahara Chuya Prize. Won the 43rd Noma Literary Newcomer Award for her novel collection, Koko wa totemo hayai kawa in 2021, and the 168th Ryunosuke Akutagawa Award for Kono yono yorokobiyo in 2022.
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Kishimoto Sachiko
Translator, Essayist
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Born in 1960. Graduated Department of English Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Sophia University. Her translations include A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin, No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories by Miranda Julai, Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders, Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson, The Arrival by Sean Tan, and many others. She is the author of Himitsu no shitsumon and Nanraka no jijo, to name a few. In 2007, she won the 23rd Kodansha Essay Award for Nenimotsu Taipu.
Classical Literature Category
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Kobayashi Issa
Haikai Poet (1763-1828)
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Born in Kashiwabara, Shinano Province (in modern day, Shinanomachi, Nagano Prefecture). Issa went to Edo to serve as an apprentice at the age of 15. At 25, he emerged as a haikai poet of the Katsushika school. He took haikai study trips in Tohoku and western Japan, studied the classics, and eventually established his own style of haikai called the "Issa style," becoming one of the leading haikai poets of the Edo period along with Matsuo Basho and Yosano Buson. His major works include Chichi no shuen nikki, Nanaban nikki, and Oraga haru.
