Saou Ichikawa

Saou Ichikawa (市川沙央, Ichikawa Saō; born 1979) is a Japanese writer. She is best known for her debut novel Hunchback, for which she won the Akutagawa Prize in 2023.

Biography

Ichikawa was born in 1979.[1] She has congenital myopathy and uses a wheelchair and a respirator, the latter which she has used since age 13.[2][3] She has an older sister, who also has congenital myopathy.[4] She decided to become a novelist at age 20, as she felt her career options were limited due to her disability.[5] She first began to write light novels, but grew discouraged after a light novel she wrote failed to win a prize, and decided to instead write serious fiction.[2] She graduated from Waseda University.[6] She grew up reading the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond and the St. Clare's books by Enid Blyton; she named Dostoyevsky's The Idiot and Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha as having influenced her.[7]

At university, she began to research the representation of disabled people in literature, which inspired the writing of her novel Hunchback,[2] about a profoundly disabled woman, Izawa, who pays her male caretaker to have sex with her.[8] Hunchback was published in 2023. The novel was well-received: it sold 230,000 copies;[1] Japan Times described it as "dark and funny".[9] She is the first disabled writer to win the Akutagawa Prize.[8] Novelist Keiichiro Hirano, who was on the jury for the Akutagawa Prize for that year, stated that the book "knocks down conventional wisdom and common sense centered on able-bodied people".[2] Viking Press acquired the English rights to the novel,[6] and a translation by Polly Barton was released in 2025. The translation received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, both of which praised the social commentary of the novel.[10][11] The English translation was longlisted for the International Booker Prize; the judges praised Hunchback for its criticism of ableism and sexism.[12]

Works

  • Hunchback (ハンチバック), 2023
  • Ophelia No. 23 (オフィーリア23号), 2024[1]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ^ a b c "芥川賞作家・市川沙央が『文學界』最新号で、受賞第一作『オフィーリア23号』を発表". PR Times (in Japanese). 9 April 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Yamazaki, Satoshi (20 July 2023). "Akutagawa Prize for author Ichikawa makes disability visible". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  3. ^ Fackler, Martin (15 May 2025). "The Prize-Winning Novel Challenging 'Ableist Machismo' in Japan". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  4. ^ "「日本の"読書バリアフリー環境"の遅れは目につきました」市川沙央氏が芥川賞受賞作で伝えたかった自身の"問題意識" 新芥川賞作家 市川沙央氏インタビュー | 読書オンライン". Bunshun (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  5. ^ Tanaka, Kana. "Disabled author channels personal experience in award-winning novel | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News". NHK. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Wood, Heloise (1 November 2023). "Viking pre-empts Ichikawa's Hunchback". The Bookseller. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  7. ^ "An interview with Saou Ichikawa and Polly Barton, author and translator of Hunchback | The Booker Prizes". Booker Prizes. 14 March 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b Kinnas, Miho. "Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa". World Literature Today. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  9. ^ Ha, Thu-huong (2 September 2023). "Saou Ichikawa's 'Hunchback': A darkly funny portrait of disability". The Japan Times. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa". Publishers Weekly. 6 December 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  11. ^ "HUNCHBACK | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. 15 February 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
  12. ^ "Hunchback: Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025 | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
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