Rie Yoshiyuki


Rie Yoshiyuki was a Japanese writer of short stories, novels and poetry. She was awarded the Noma Children's Literature Newcomer Award, the Akutagawa Prize, and the Women's Literature Prize.

Biography

Yoshiyuki was born in Tokyo as the third child of writer Eisuke Yoshiyuki and his wife Aguri, a prominent beautician. She graduated from the department of Japanese literature at Waseda University in 1961.
Her first poetry collection titled Aoi Heya was published in 1963. Her 1967 poetry collection Yume no naka de won her the Tamura Toshiko Prize. In 1973, she published her short story Kioku no naka ni about her father, who had died when she was only one year old. A collection of short stories titled Otoko girai followed in 1975.
Her children's story Mahōtsukai no kushan neko won her the Noma Children's Literature Newcomer Award. Other prize-winning works include Chiisana Kifujin and Kiiroi neko. Many of her stories have cats as characters or describe relationships between cats and humans, or draw upon childhood memories. Another recurring theme is the way people's cruel behaviour affects the lives of others.
Yoshiyuki died in Tokyo on 4 May 2006 of thyroid cancer.
Her older brother Junnosuke was also a novelist, and her older sister Kazuko is an actress.

Selected works

  • 1963: Aoi Heya
  • 1967: Yume no naka de
  • 1971: Mahōtsukai no kushan neko
  • 1972: Kumo no iru sora
  • 1973: Kioku no naka ni
  • 1973: Senaka no neko
  • 1975: Otoko girai
  • 1981: The Little Lady
  • 1981: Ido no hoshi
  • 1982: Meiro no futago
  • 1983: Tooka no tsubomi
  • 1983: Haioku no hime-gimi
  • 1987: Hana kagami
  • 1988: ''Kiiroi neko''

Translations

Only few of Yoshiyuki's writings have been translated into English, these include her poems Carrying and Sacrificial Victim, and the short story The Little Lady. Her short story Ido no hoshi was translated into German as Im Brunnen die Sterne.

Awards

  • 1967: Tamura Toshiko Prize for Yume no naka de
  • 1970: 9th Noma Children's Literature Newcomer Award for Mahōtsukai no kushan neko
  • 1981: 85th Akutagawa Prize for The Little Lady
  • 1989: 28th Women's Literature Prize for ''Kiiroi neko''