Kawakami Hiromi (川上弘美 Kawakami Hiromi) born April 1, 1958, is a Japanese writer known for her off-beat fiction.
Born in Tokyo, Kawakami graduated from Ochanomizu Women’s College in 1980. She made her debut as “Yamada Hiromi” in NW-SF No. 16, edited by Yamano Koichi and Yamada Kazuko, in 1980 with the story So-shimoku (“Diptera”), and helped edit some early issues of NW-SF in the 1970s. She reinvented herself as a writer and wrote her first book, a collection of short stories entitled God (Kamisama) published in 1994. Her novel The Teacher’s Briefcase (Sensei no kaban) is a love story between a woman in her thirties and a man in his sixties. She is also known as a literary critic and a provocative essayist.
Books in order of publication:
Record of a Night Too Brief – 1996
Strange Weather in Tokyo – 2001
Dragon Palace – 2002
The Ten Loves of Mr. Nishino – 2003
Parade – 2004
The Nakano Thrift Shop – 2005
Manazuru – 2006
Under the Eye of the Big Bird: A Novel – 2016
People From My Neighbourhood – 2021
The Third Love – 2024
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