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born February 8, 1959, is a popular but controversial contemporary Japanese writer who is most famous for her stories that address issues of sexuality, racism, and interracial marriage, topics not typically discussed openly in Japanese society. Born in Tokyo as , she lived in several places around Japan due to her father's job. This transient lifestyle forced her to confront issues of separation and bullying, issues that many of her protagonists also deal with. According to her interview with the Japanese magazine ''Bungei,'' during middle school she was moved by African-American soul music and began to read any novels she could find written by black people, or featuring black people. She held a job in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, an area rich with foreigners. After graduating from high school in 1977, she entered Meiji University's Literature Department, but dropped out before graduating. After a short stint writing and drawing manga, she began writing novels in 1980. Though her works garnered some attention, even receiving praise from Japanese literary critic , she only achieved widespread recognition in 1985, when ''Bedtime Eyes'' won the Bungei Prize. In writing ''Bedtime Eyes'', Yamada drew upon her experiences with black people and black culture and combined them with the Japanese literary tradition. In 1996, "Trash" was published in English translation by Kodansha International (translator: Sonya L. Johnson). In May 2006, three of Yamada's novellas (Bedtime Eyes 「ベッドタイム･アイズ」, The Piano Player's Fingers 「指の戯れ」 and Jesse 「ジェシーの背骨」) were published in English translation (translators: Yumi Gunji and Marc Jardine) as a single volume by St Martin's Press under the collective title ''Bedtime Eyes''. In Yamada's second collection of works, ''Jesse's Spine,'' Yamada depicts the experiences of a woman who is learning to adjust to life with her lover's child from another relationship. The writing style of this work has been compared to William Saroyan's novel, ''Papa You're Crazy.'' Through her depiction of the child's perspective on the world, her book was a critical success, earning her a nomination for the Akutagawa Prize for new authors. In her short novels ''Classroom for the Abandoned Dead,'' ''Afterschool Music,'' and ''I Can't Study,'' Yamada tackles the topics of childhood life, bullying, and school life. In an interview with ''Bungei Shunjū'' upon winning the Akutagawa Prize, Risa Wataya and Hitomi Kanehara named Yamada's ''Afterschool Music'' as one of their major influences, explaining that her works were one of the greatest depictions of modern Japan. == Bibliography of Major Works == * ''Bedtime Eyes'' (1985) * : ベッドタイムアイズ (''Beddotaimu Aizu'') * ''Jesse's Spine'' (1986) * : ジェシーの背骨(''Jeshī no Sebone'') * ''Soul Music Lovers Only'' (1987) * : ソウル・ミュージック・ラバーズ・オンリー (''Sōru Myūjikku Rabāzu Onrī'') * ''Classroom for the Abandoned Dead'' (1988) * : 風葬の教室 (''Fūsō no Kyōshitsu'') * ''Afterschool Music'' (1989) * : 放課後の音符 (''Hōkago no Kii Nooto'') * ''Trash'' (1991) * : トラッシュ (''Torasshu'') * ''I Can't Study'' (1993) * : 僕は勉強ができない (''Boku wa Benkyō ga Dekinai'') * ''120% COOOL'' (1994) * : 120%COOOL * ''Animal Logic'' (1996) * : アニマル・ロジック (''Animaru Rojikku'') * ''4U'' (1997) * : 4U * ''MAGNET'' (1999) * : MAGNET * ''A2Z'' (2003) * : A2Z * ''PAY DAY!'' (2003) * : PAY DAY! 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Amy Yamada」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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