Sayaka Murata (in Japanese,
村田 沙耶香) is one of the most exciting up-and-coming writers in Japan today.
She herself still works part time in a convenience store, which gave her the inspiration to write
Convenience Store Woman (
Konbini Ningen). She debuted in 2003 with
Junyu (
Breastfeeding), which won the Gunzo Prize for new writers. In 2009 she won the Noma Prize for New Writers with
Gin iro no uta (
Silver Song), and in 2013 the Mishima Yukio Prize for
Shiro-oro no machi no, sono hone no taion no (
Of Bones, of Body Heat, of Whitening City).
Convenience Store Woman won the 2016 Akutagawa Award. Murata has two short stories published in English (both translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori): "Lover on the Breeze" (
Ruptured Fiction(s) of the Earthquake, Waseda Bungaku, 2011) and "A Clean Marriage" (
Granta 127: Japan, 2014).