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Haruki Murakami won the Princess of Asturias Award for Letters

Haruki Murakami won the Princess of Asturias Award for Letters

the japanese writer Haruki Murakami won the award Princess of Asturias of Lettersaccording to the ruling of the jury convened today in the Spanish city of Oviedowhich, recognizing “the uniqueness of its literature, its universal scope and its ability to reconcile Japanese tradition and the legacy of Western culture” finally granted the author of “Kafka on the shore” and “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” the distinction for which it had been sounding like a favorite for years, as well as for the Nobel for Literature.

The narrator became a benchmark in contemporary literature after the international success achieved in 1987 with “Tokyo Blues” and since then he has spread his literary voice in more than 50 languages ​​that have translated his original corpus where the real and the fantastic merge and in which the imprint of 19th century authors such as Russian is woven. Fedor DostoevskyEnglish Charles Dickens or the American Truman Capote.

“An ambitious and innovative narrative that has been able to express some of the great themes and conflicts of our time: loneliness, existential uncertainty, the dehumanization of big cities, terrorism, but also body care or one’s own reflection on the creative endeavor”, pondered the jury that awarded him the award.

With the Princess of AsturiasMurakami adds a new literary recognition to his showcase, which already has the prestigious Franz Kafka (2006), the Jerusalem (2009) and the Hans Christian Andersen for Literature (2016), among others, but not with the Nobel Prize for Literature, which has been as elusive to him as this distinction for which he was a recurring favorite year after year has been until now.

“I am really glad that readers appreciate my books, but any form of award is a burden for me”Murakami had said in an interview given in 2016, in which he also did not avoid the question about the other famous prize: “The Nobel and I are very far away. Even if all the people in the world assured me that I am close, I would not believe them, ” assured at the time.

Who is Haruki Murakami?

The only child of two Japanese literature professors, and the grandson of a Buddhist priest, from a young age he was interested in Western culture, especially American music and literature. In addition to his literary vein, he has dedicated himself to translating works by authors such as Raymond Carver, John Irving or F. Scott Fitzgerald. He is in turn known for his love of athletics and has participated in several marathons and triathlons. He even went so far as to write about his experience as a runner in “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.”

Murakami is the most widely read Japanese storyteller of his generation.

The narrator’s most successful novel is “Tokyo Blues”, which stars Toru Watanabe, an executive who is taken back to the turbulent Tokyo of the late 1960s by an old Beatles song. He is also the author of works such as “1Q84”, “The Colorless Boy Pilgrimage Years”, “Underground”, “What I Talk About When I Talk About Writing”, “The Birthday Girl”, “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” and so many others.

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The Princess of Asturias had 37 candidates from 17 nationalities and is the fifth of the eight international awards given annually by the Foundation of the same name. It is endowed with a sculpture by Joan Miró – a representative symbol of the award -, an accrediting diploma, a badge and the cash amount of 50,000 euros.

Source: Ambito

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