In 2021, Li Kotomi became just the second writer without Japanese as her native language to win Japan’s most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa Prize — the first being Yang Yi in 2008.
It was her second time making history: she was also the first author to win the Gunzo Award for New Writers for the same reason.
“While I don’t think that I experienced any particular difficulties publishing ‘Solo Dance’ because of my nationality, I was constantly affixed with the label of ‘Taiwanese’ in the publishing and media coverage, which may have caused some readers to shy away,” Li tells The Japan Times via email. A Taiwanese writer breaking into Japan’s inner literary circle is a historic feat — and the book that started it all, 2018’s “Solo Dance,” is coming out in English translation on May 24.