Japanese writer
 is a Japanese fiction writer. She has won the Akutagawa Prize, the Bungei Prize, and the Yasunari Kawabata Literary Prize. Her work has been translated into Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, German, French, English, Italian and Polish.
Early life and education.
Aoyama was born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She graduated from the University of Tsukuba, where she studied library science.
Career.
After graduating from university, Aoyama moved to Tokyo to take a job at a travel firm. She began writing her first novel, "Mado no akari", while working full-time. "Mado no akari" was published in 2005, and won the 42nd Bungei Prize. In 2007 "Hitori biyori", Aoyama's story about freeters working part-time jobs, won the 136th Akutagawa Prize. After winning the Akutagawa Prize, Aoyama quit her office job to pursue writing full-time. In 2009 she won the Yasunari Kawabata Literary Prize for her short story "Kakera", which was published in a collection of the same name. She was the youngest author ever to win the prize. "Watashi no kareshi", Aoyama's first full-length novel, was published in 2011. In 2016 she collaborated with illustrator Satoe Tone on the children's book "Watashi Otsuki-sama".
Writing style.
Aoyama has cited Françoise Sagan and Kazuo Ishiguro as literary influences. Literary scholar Judith Pascoe proposed that Wuthering Heights was a literary influence on Aoyama's work, particularly "Meguri ito", and later confirmed this influence with Aoyama herself.
References.
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