First Taiwan-born novelist wins Japan’s Akutagawa Prize 首位台裔旅日小說家贏得日本重量級純文學獎項芥川獎

On August 28, Japan-based writer Li Kotomi received the Akutagawa Prize for her latest novel, An Island Where Red Spider Lilies Bloom. She is the first Taiwanese writer and the second foreigner to win this prestigious literary award.

Growing up in Taiwan, Li started teaching herself Japanese in junior high school because of her love of anime. She double majored in Chinese and Japanese at National Taiwan University. At 23, she went to graduate school in Japan and began her writing career there.

The novel tells the story of a young girl in a world ruled by women. History has always been told from a male point of view, but Li is trying to lead readers to see the world in another way.

Her three novels are all written in Japanese. Li believes that writing in a non-native language has brought her a new perspective.

友善讓你懂 │ 解說：

　
8月28日，旅日作家李琴峰以最新出版的小說《彼岸花が咲く島》（尚無台譯版本，暫譯為《彼岸花盛開之島》），獲得日本芥川獎。她是這個重要的日本文學獎項得主中，首位台裔作家、也是第二位非日本人的外籍創作者。

李琴峰從小在台灣長大，出於對日本動畫的熱愛，從國中開始自學日文。在國立台灣大學（National Taiwan University）讀書時，雙主修中文及日文。23歲遠赴日本讀研究所，並展開她的寫作生涯。

此次得獎的小說，描寫了一個年輕女子在一個由女性統治的世界中生活的故事。自古以來，歷史總是由男性視角來講述。李琴峰試著帶讀者用另外一個角度來觀看世界。

她的三本小說都直接以日文進行創作。李琴峰相信，以非母語來寫作為她帶來了新的創作觀點。

輕鬆帶著走 │ 學習：

　
「自學（某種語言、技術）」在英文中常以teach oneself、或self-teaching來表示，因為自學實際上是自己找資料、教材及方法「教」會自己。而self-study則較偏向「脫離學校/老師教授的體系、在家自學」的意思。

例句：

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a self-taught mathematical genius.
印度數學家斯里尼瓦瑟·拉馬努金是一位自學的數學天才。

本篇其他相關單字，介紹如下：

• prestigious (adj.) 具有聲望的
• anime (n.) （日本的）動畫片
• non-native language 非母語
• perspective (n.) 觀點