Novelist as a Vocation

by Haruki Murakami

Lady Luck,

literary prizes.

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Prize.

Akutagawa Prize

Akutagawa Prize

Haruki Murakami,

Yuyu Aima,

It is a fact that over thirty years ago, two of my works were short-listed for the Akutagawa Prize and both failed to win. Since then, I have pursued my work quite removed from what might be called the literary world.

One factor that helps explain my relative distance from the literary world is that I never set out to become a writer in the first place.

I also had a full-time job, which meant that my hands were full taking care of the many things I had to look after.

Golden Street area

Shinjuku Station,

Akutagawa Prize

Hear the Wind Sing

Pinball, 1973,

I had been overjoyed, however, when Hear the Wind Sing had won the Gunzo Prize. I don’t mind telling that to the world. It was truly a landmark event in my life, my ticket to becoming a writer.

Akutagawa Prize.

Akutagawa Prize

Give me time, I thought, and I can turn out something much better. This may sound arrogant for someone who not long before had never given a thought to writing a novel.

Hear the Wind Sing

Pinball, 1973

My relief also stemmed from the fact that I would not have to deal with the publicity that would follow winning the Akutagawa Prize, which would have disrupted my daily life.

Akutagawa Prize,

Haruki Murakami

Still, I wasn’t overly disappointed to have become “used goods.”

Akutagawa Prize.

What weighed on me the most were the reactions of those who tried to console me.

NHK created problems, too. No sooner was my candidacy announced than they phoned asking me to go on TV if I won.

Akutagawa Prize

Akutagawa Prize?

The Reasons Haruki Murakami Failed to Win the Akutagawa Prize

Akutagawa Prize,

Akutagawa Prize

This “controversy” is too trivial to be called a tempest in a teapot—it’s more like a tiny dust devil.

Akutagawa Prize

Bungei Shunju

Akutagawa Prize,

Akutagawa Prize

Oscars

Nobel,

Raymond Chandler

Nelson Algren

Kurt Vonnegut,

literary prizes.

Still, many in the world pay attention solely to things that possess visible and concrete form. Literary quality is inherently formless, so prizes, medals, and such provide that concreteness.

nonliterary quality of the awards

At the risk of stating the obvious, it is literary works that last, not literary prizes.

Akutagawa Prize

Nobel Prize...

Ernest Hemingway