Contemporary Japanese-German prose writer
Yoko Tawada was born in Tokyo in 1960, moved to Hamburg when she was twenty-two, and then to Berlin in 2006. She writes in both Japanese and German, and has published several books—stories, novels, poems, plays, essays—in both languages. She has received numerous awards for her writing including the Akutagawa Prize, the Adelbert von Chamisso Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Goethe Medal. New Directions publishes her story collections Where Europe Begins (with a Preface by Wim Wenders) and Facing the Bridge, and her novel of Catherine Deneuve obsession, The Naked Eye.
The Bridegroom Was a Dog
The Naked Eye
Facing the Bridge
Where Europe Begins
“...in the title of this volume [Tawada] chooses to face the bridge, to stare it down, perhaps, refusing to cross. Through her writing she seeks to create a new kind of bridge––not as a structure built of stone or concrete, but as a physical process, a continuing dance.”
— Margaret Mitsutani on Yoko Tawada's Facing the Bridge
“What propels Tawada’s stories is the unassailable logic of dreams and fairy tales, coupled with verbal energy. Tawada’s images resonate simultaneously on different levels.”
— The Village Voice on Yoko Tawada
“Tawada’s stories agitate the mind like songs half remembered or treasure boxes whose keys are locked within.”
— New York Times on Yoko Tawada
Niccolo Tucci