Aki Shimazaki (born 1954 in

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

, Japan) is a Canadian novelist and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. She moved to Canada in 1981, living in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Since 1991 she has lived in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, where she teaches

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and publishes her novels in French. Her second novel, ''Hamaguri'', won the

Prix Ringuet The Prix Ringuet is a Canadian literary award, presented each year by the Académie des lettres du Québec to an author from Quebec for a book of French-language fiction. First presented in 1983 as the Prix Molson, the award was later renamed for ...

in 2000. Her fourth, ''Wasurenagusa'', won the Canada-Japan Literary Prize in 2002. Her fifth, ''Hotaru'', won the 2005 Governor General's Award for French fiction. Her books have been translated in English, Japanese, German, Hungarian, Italian and Russian.

Novels

Pentalogy "Le poids des secrets" : * ''Tsubaki'', 1999 * ''Hamaguri'', 2000 * ''Tsubame'', 2001 * ''Wasurenagusa'', 2002 * ''Hotaru'', 2005 Pentalogy "Au coeur du Yamato" : * ''Mitsuba'', 2006 * ''Zakuro'', 2008 * ''Tonbo'', 2010 * ''Tsukushi'', 2012 * ''Yamabuki'', 2013 Pentalogy "L'ombre du chardon" : * ''Azami'', 2014 * ''Hôzuki'', 2015 * ''Suisen'', 2016 * ''Fuki-no-tô'', 2017 * ''Maïmaï'', 2018 Pentalogy "Une clochette sans battant" : * ''Suzuran'', 2019 * ''Sémi'', 2021 * ''No-no-yuri'', 2022 * ''Niré'', 2023 * ''Urushi'', 2024 In progress : * ''Ajisaï'', 2025

References

1954 births 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Japanese emigrants to Canada 20th-century Japanese women writers People from Gifu Living people Canadian women novelists Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Canadian writers of Asian descent 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian novelists in French 20th-century Canadian translators 21st-century Canadian translators Writers from Gifu Prefecture Canadian women non-fiction writers Novelists from Montreal {{Canada-translator-stub