Kenzaburo Oe's shimmering masterpiece revisits a father’s life and death in an astonishing blend of myth, fantasy, history and autobiography
Kenzaburō Ōe
- Born
Kenzaburō Ōe is considered one of Japan's leading post-war writers
Though he lives in Tokyo, Ōe’s novels, short stories and essays are strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory. They deal with political, social and philosophical issues, including nuclear weapons, nuclear power, social non-conformism and existentialism.
He has won almost every major international honour including the 1989 Prix Europalia and the 1994 Nobel Prize for Literature. His novel Death By Water was longlisted for The Man Booker International Prize 2016 and he was shortlisted, for his entire body of work, for The Man Booker International Prize 2005.