Haruki Murakami (born January 12, 1949) is a contemporary Japanese writer. Murakami has been translated into 50 languages and his best-selling books have sold millions of copies. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards, both in Japan and internationally, including the World Fantasy Award (2006) and the Frank OConnor International Short Story Award (2006), while his oeuvre received among others the Franz Kafka Prize (2006) and the Jerusalem Prize (2009). Murakamis most notable works include A Wild Sheep Chase (1982), Norwegian Wood (1987), The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (1994-1995), Kafka on the Shore (2002), and 1Q84 (2009–2010). Murakami was born in Japan during the post–World War II baby boom. Although born in Kyoto, he spent his youth in Shukugawa (Nishinomiya), Ashiya and Kobe.His father was the son of a Buddhist priest, and his mother the daughter of an Osaka merchant. Both taught Japanese literature.Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, much like Toru Watanabe, the narrator of Norwegian Wood. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened a coffeehouse and jazz bar, the Peter Cat, in Kokubunji, Tokyo, which he ran with his wife from 1974 to 1981—again, not unlike the protagonist in his later novel South of the Border, West of the Sun. Murakami is a serious marathon runner and triathlon enthusiast, though he did not start running until he was 33 years old. On June 23, 1996, he completed his first ultramarathon, a 100-kilometer race around Lake Saroma in Hokkaido, Japan. He discusses his relationship with running in his 2008 memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Prizes for books 1979: Gunzo Award (best first novel) for Hear the Wind Sing 1982: Noma Literary Prize (best newcomer) for A Wild Sheep Chase 1985: Tanizaki Prize for Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World 1995: Yomiuri Prize (best novel) for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle 2006: World Fantasy Award (best novel) for Kafka on the Shore 2006: Frank OConnor International Short Story Award for Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Murakami was also awarded the 2007 Kiriyama Prize for Fiction for his collection of short stories Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, but according to the prizes official website, Murakami declined to accept the award for reasons of personal principle. His new fiction is Colorless “Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage”.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 10:25:03 +0000