Kazuo Ishiguro has been awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. In a recent interview, the British novelist says he heard about his win after his agent called him informing him that he had won the coveted prize, just as he was about to take brunch at home. The author, however, assumed that this was part of fake news until he started receiving calls from journalists. As other journalists began camping outside his London home, it dawned on him that the news was real. After overcoming the initial shock, Ishiguro admitted that he was honored and grateful for the award. Despite this, he still acknowledges that he was not expecting the award, despite his name being lined up as one of the nominees for the award. He indicated that he felt like an “imposter” for winning the award before other contemporary authors such as Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Salman Rushdie, and Margaret Atwood.
Background
Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Japan in 1954. Together with his family, he moved to Britain at the age of five. He discovered his love for literature at around 9 or 10 years old when he started reading Sherlock Holmes at the local library. Since then, his passion for literature has grown. Ishiguro pursued English and philosophy at the University of Kent before earning a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.
Literary Works
In between pursuing his undergraduate and master’s degrees, Ishiguro spent a year writing fiction. His master’s thesis became his first novel, A Pale View of Hills, which was published in 1982. Since then he has written other books such as Never Let Me Go, The Unconsoled, The Remains of the Day, and An Artist of the Floating World. He is currently working on his latest novel and hopes that the fame accompanying winning a Nobel Prize in Literature will not distract him from completing it in time. Kazuo Ishiguro’s initial works were based on his birth country of Japan. He has however gone on to write books based in his home country of Britain. His writing takes a look at the past and how it affects existence in the future. So far, he is happy that his literary works have captured the attention of the younger generation, and hopes to maintain this younger audience with his new book.
