Red Circle Authors is a British publishing house based in London that specialises in Japanese fiction.

Origins

Red Circle Authors was set up in 2016, by Richard Nathan and Koji Chikatani, to showcase Japan’s best creative writing. The

Gutai group The was a Japanese avant-garde artist group founded in the Hanshin region by young artists under the leadership of the painter Jirō Yoshihara in Ashiya, Japan, in 1954. The group, today one of the most internationally-recognized instances o ...

was the initial inspiration behind Red Circle Authors. Members of the Red Circle Authors group include: Kazufumi Shiraishi, , Fuminori Nakamura, , Mitsuyo Kakuta,

Takuji Ichikawa is a Japanese novelist. Ichikawa's bestsellers include (2003), (2003) and (2004). His works are also adapted for Japanese films such as ''Be with You'' (2004), '' Heavenly Forest'' (2006), and Japanese TV series ''14 Months'' (2003). The 20 ...

Soji Shimada is a Japanese mystery writer. Born in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Biography Soji Shimada graduated from Seishikan High School in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, and later Musashino Art University as a Commercial arts d ...

and Roger Pulvers. Currently, only a limited number of literary works by Red Circle's authors are available outside Japan in translation. Despite this, many of Red Circle's authors have won literary awards in Japan including, for example, the

Naoki Prize The Naoki Prize, officially , is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. It was created in 1935 by Kikuchi Kan, then editor of the ''Bungeishunjū'' magazine, and named in memory of novelist Naoki Sanjugo. Sponsored by the Society for t ...

( Mitsuyo Kakuta 2005, Kazufumi Shiraishi in 2010) and the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

( Fuminori Nakamura in 2005); and have had their works adapted for film and television in Japan. Some of the group's authors already have well-established reputations in Asia (in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Thailand, for example) and are starting to win international literary prizes. Fuminori Nakamura, for instance, won the David L. Goodis Award in 2014.

Imprint and series

Red Circle Authors' publishing imprint is Red Circle. Red Circle Authors launched this imprint and publishing programme on 23 November 2018 with the launch of its first series Red Circle Minis and the publication of its first three Minis: ''Stand-In Companion'' by Kazufumi Shiraishi, ''Backlight'' by Kanji Hanawa and ''Tokyo Performance'' by Roger Pulvers Commentators and reviewers said after their publications that the approach taken was "not about resizing big books into small objects, but rather about celebrating textual brevity in book form itself", a longtime tradition in Japan.

Activities

Red Circle Authors' activities are managed from London. The group also has an office in Tokyo. It promotes its select curated group of contemporary Japanese and Japan-based authors and their creative works to the international publishing industry and readers from these two locations. In addition to its book publishing Red Circle publishes a magazine on its website, ''The Circle'', which provides news, analysis and opinion on Japanese literature, writers, publishing, bookselling and culture.

References

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External links

Official websiteThe CircleRed Circle Factbook
Book publishing companies based in London Publishing companies established in 2016 British companies established in 2016 Japanese-language mass media Japanese fiction Literary translation