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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
小山田おやまだ 浩子ひろこ
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Hiroshima, Japan
OccupationWriter
LanguageJapanese
Alma materHiroshima University
GenreFiction, short story
Notable works
Notable awards

Hiroko Oyamada (小山田おやまだ 浩子ひろこ, 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. ^ "文学部ぶんがくぶ卒業生そつぎょうせいの小山田おやまだ浩子ひろこさんが、「新潮しんちょう」新人しんじん賞しょうを受賞じゅしょうしました" (in Japanese). Hiroshima University. January 19, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  2. ^ "第だい150回かい「芥川賞あくたがわしょう」は小山田おやまだ浩子ひろこ氏しの『穴あな』 「直木賞なおきしょう」は朝井あさいまかて氏しと姫野ひめのカオルコ氏し". Oricon News (in Japanese). January 16, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "【第だい42回かい新潮しんちょう新人しんじん賞しょう 受賞じゅしょう者しゃインタビュー】" (in Japanese). Shinchosha. November 1, 2010. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  4. ^ a b 瀧井たきい, 朝あさ世よ. "作家さっかの読書どくしょ道どう". WEB本ほんの雑誌ざっし (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. ^ "第だい150回かい『芥川賞あくたがわしょう』に小山田おやまだ浩子ひろこ、『直木賞なおきしょう』に朝井あさいまかて＆姫野ひめのカオルコ". 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. ^ "第だい５回かい広島ひろしま文化ぶんか賞しょう新人しんじん賞しょう" (in Japanese). 公益こうえき財団ざいだん法人ほうじんひろしま文化ぶんか振興しんこう財団ざいだん. November 1, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  12. ^ 瀧井たきい, 朝あさ世よ (April 24, 2018). "芥川賞あくたがわしょう作家さっか・小山田おやまだ浩子ひろこが「フェティッシュ的てきに好すき」なものって?". an an (in Japanese). Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  13. ^ 大竹おおたけ, 昭子あきこ (May 30, 2018). "作家さっか・大竹おおたけ昭子あきこ氏しが読よむ『庭にわ』（小山田おやまだ浩子ひろこ著ちょ）凝視ぎょうしが異こと界かいを立たち上あげる". 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 "小山田おやまだ浩子ひろこさん「頭あたま真まっ白しろ、ふわふわしてる」電話でんわで". 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. ^ "これまでの織田おだ作之助さくのすけ賞しょう受賞じゅしょう作さく一覧いちらん 1984～2013 年ねん" (PDF). 大阪おおさか文学ぶんがく振興しんこう会かい (Osaka Literature Promotion Institute) (in Japanese). Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  19. ^ "芥川賞あくたがわしょう受賞じゅしょう者しゃ一覧いちらん" (in Japanese). 日本にっぽん文学ぶんがく振興しんこう会かい. 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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