Aoko Matsuda was born in 1979. Her work centres around gender imbalances and other forms of discrimination in Japanese society, in particular aiming to remove feminism and related issues from the academicism in which they are steeped, and present them to readers with a light, empathetic touch. Her debut, Stackable(2013) was nominated for two major Japanese literary awards: the Mishima Yukio Prize and the Noma Literary New Face Prize. Since then, Matsuda has had a variety of works published including short story collections, a novel, essay collections, and a children’s book. She has had numerous short works featured in English-language publications and websites including GRANTA, The Southern Review, and Monkey Business. Her short story ‘The Woman Dies’ was shortlisted for a Shirley Jackson Award, and ‘The Starry Night’ was selected for the Best Short Fictions 2020 Anthology. Where the Wild Ladies Are, Matsuda’s collection of contemporary feminist ghost stories, was published in 2020 by Tilted Axis in the UK and Soft Skull Press in the US, and was selected by TIME magazine and the New Yorker as a best book of the year. The collection won the 2021 World Fantasy Award (Best Collection), the 2021 Firecracker Award (Fiction) and was shortlisted for the Ray Bradbury Prize and Stabby Award. Aoko is jointly represented by PFD and Fortuna Co. Ltd., Japan.
Photo Credit: ©Yuri Manabe
