Anna Ogino


Anna Ogino is a Japanese author and professor of literature at Keio University. She has won the Akutagawa Prize, the Yomiuri Prize, and the Itō Sei Literature Prize.

Early years

Ogino was born as Anna Gaillard in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, to a Japanese mother and a French-American father. She was naturalized during elementary school, and received her undergraduate and master's degree in French literature from Keio University, as well as receiving a scholarship to Paris-Sorbonne University to study Rabelais. In 2002 she became a full professor at Keio.

Career

Ogino began writing in 1983 as text author for comic strips about mermaids. She won the 1991 Akutagawa Prize for '. Her 1991 book ', a critical novel that compares eminent male Japanese authors to different types of foods, has received scholarly attention for its subversive use of parodic language. In 2002 she received the 53rd Yomiuri Prize for ', and in 2008 she received the 19th Itō Sei Literature Prize for '.

Recognition