Kazuo Ishiguro

Born: November 8th, 1954  

“There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.” -Kazuo Ishiguro 

Life 

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan on 1954 and moved to Guildford, Surrey in the United Kingdom when he was five-years-old. He didn't return to Japan until nearly 30 years later in 1989. In an interview with the novelist Kenzaburō Ōe, Ishiguro noted that Japanese setting for his novels A Pale View of the Hills and An Artist of the Floating World were imaginary. At the time he wrote the novels, he hadn't been to Japan since he was a child.   

However, Ishiguro always felt a strong connection to his Japanese heritage. He grew up in a Japanese-speaking household and his parents ensured he grew up with an appreciation for Japanese culture.   

Ishiguro graduated from the University of Kent at Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Philosophy. After a year of writing fiction, he returned to school at the University of East Anglia and received a Master in Arts in Creative Writing.   

A majority of Ishiguro's novel are historical and written in first-person narrative. His novels often end without a resolution and his characters accept past events, who they are, and resign to their future. This acceptance usually brings about relief.  

In 2017 Ishiguro received the Nobel Prize in Literature for "novels of great emotional force, [he] has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world." In 2019 he received a knighthood for his contribution to literature. He has also received a Whitbread Prize, a Booker Prize, and named to several "Best of" lists.  

In addition to writing novels and short stories, Ishiguro is also a talented lyricist. He has co-written songs for jazz singer Stacey Kent. His contribution to her 2007 album Breakfast on the Morning Tram was nominated for a Grammy.  

He lives in London with his wife and daughter.