Haruhiko Yoshimeki

Haruhiko Yoshimeki, born February 25, 1957, in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, spent part of his childhood in the United States (including Louisiana) and Thailand, experiences that influenced his writing. While working at a company, he began publishing novels, winning the Gunzo New Writers' Award (excellent work) in 1985 for "Zipangu," the Noma Literary Newcomer Award in 1988 for Louisiana Hang-Hitting, the Hirabayashi Taiko Literary Award in 1991 for Proud People, and the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1993 for Solitary Wilderness (Sekiryō kōya), which depicts family struggles with Alzheimer's in an international marriage and was adapted into the 1998 film Yukie. He is also a Japanese modern literature researcher and professor at Yasuda Women's University since 2014. Gunzo Prize Iowa Writers Guide