One of Japan's brightest stars is set to explode across the global skies of literature. Mieko Kawakami, winner of the Akutagawa Prize (2008), the Murasaki Shikibu Literary Prize (2010) and the Tanizaki Prize (2013) among many others, will see two of her novels published in English next year after successful translations into French, Korean, Chinese and Spanish.

Ms Ice Sandwich, by Mieko Kawakami, Translated by Louise Heal Kawai.96 pagesPUSHKIN PRESS, Fiction.

Barely a decade has passed since her debut novel, "My Ego Ratio, My Teeth, and the World" yet her works have repeatedly earned accolades for challenging expectations, both thematically and stylistically. Kawakami is known for setting her own boundaries; she burst onto the artistic scene first as a musician and then as a poet and popular blogger before moving into fiction.