Katie Kitamura
Born | 1979 |
---|---|
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Ethnicity | Japanese |
Alma mater | Princeton University, London Consortium |
Notable works | The Longshot |
Spouse | Hari Kunzru |
Katie Kitamura is an American novelist, journalist and art critic. She is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the London Consortium.[1]
Early life and education
Katie Kitamura was born in California in 1979 to a family of Japanese origin,[2] and raised in California.[1][3]
Kitamura graduated from Princeton University in New Jersey in 1999. She earned a PhD in American literature from the London Consortium.[4] Her thesis was titled The Aesthetics of Vulgarity and the Modern American Novel (2005).[5]
Earlier in her life, Kitamura trained as a ballerina.[6][7]
Career
Non-fiction
Kitamura wrote Japanese for Travellers - A Journey, describing her travels across Japan and examining the dichotomies of its society and her own place in it as a Japanese-American.[8]
Fiction
Kitamura was introduced to mixed martial arts in Japan by her brother.[9] Her first novel, The Longshot, published in 2009, is about the preparations undergone by a fighter and his trainer ahead of championship bout against a famed opponent. The cover art of the US edition of her book features the title tattooed on knuckles; the knuckles are her brother's.[6]
Kitamura's second novel Gone to the Forest, published in 2013, is set in an unnamed colonial country and describes the life and suffering of a landowning family in a backdrop of civil strife and political change.[10]
Journalism
Kitamura writes for The Guardian, The New York Times, and Wired.[1] She has written articles on mixed martial arts,[11] film criticism and analysis,[12] and art.[13][14]
Awards and recognition
In 2010, Kitamura's The Longshot was shortlisted for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award.[15]
Selected bibliography
Books
- Japanese for Travellers: A Journey. Hamish Hamilton. 2006. ISBN 978-0-241-14289-9.
- The Longshot: A Novel. Free Press. August 11, 2009. ISBN 978-1-4391-1760-6.
- Gone to the Forest. Profile Books. February 14, 2013. ISBN 978-1-84765-907-1.
Journalism
- Art criticism in Frieze magazine.[16]
- Art criticism in Contemporary Magazine[17]
Personal life
Kitamura is married to the author Hari Kunzru.[18]
References
- 1 2 3 "Katie Kitamura". Conville & Walsh literary agency. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Philip Womack (January 11, 2013). "Five young novelists for 2013". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ http://readers.penguin.co.uk/nf/shared/WebDisplay/0,,214880_11_1,00.html
- ↑ Samantha Kuok Leese (August 10, 2012). "Katie Kitamura interview". Spectator. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ "PhD Titles". The London Consortium. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- 1 2 Will Doig (August 19, 2009). "How to Fight Like a Girl". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ "Katie Kitamura interviews at Simon & Schuster". Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Sophie Campbell (August 30, 2006). "Japan through American eyes". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Katherine Federici Greenwood (November 18, 2009). "In the ring". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 111 (5). Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Sarah Hall (February 6, 2013). "Gone to the Forest by Katie Kitamura – review". The Guardian. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Katie Kitamura (April 29, 2006). "The harder they come". The Guardian. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Katie Kitamura (June 15, 2012). "With Grain: A Q&A with Apichatpong Weerasethakul". Asian American Writers' Workshop. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Katie Kitamura (January 19, 2009). "Little London Prop Shop Turns Ideas Into Art". Wired. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Katie Kitamura (August 2008). "Liam Gillick". Frieze Magazine (114). Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ "Provocateurs, Mind Bogglers, and Tragedians: Five Young Literary Talents Chosen as Finalists for The New York Public Library's 2010 Young Lions Fiction Award" (Press release). New York Public Library. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ "Articles by Katie Kitamura". Frieze Magazine. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ "Contemporary magazine". Contemporary Magazine. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
- ↑ Jonathan Lee (September 3, 2013). "Bare-Knuckle Writing". Guernica. Retrieved December 8, 2013.