Lee Yangji

Lee Yangji (1955-1992) was a Zainichi Korean novelist who wrote in Japanese, winning the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1988/1989 for her work Yuhi, making her the second Zainichi Korean to receive the award after Lee Hoesung. Born in Japan to Korean parents who later naturalized as Japanese citizens, she studied Korean literature at Seoul National University and explored themes of identity, assimilation, and diaspora in works like Nabi Taryong (Grieving Butterflies) and Ishi no Koe (The Voice of Stones), before dying from acute myocarditis at age 37. Wikidata, Duke University paper