"The Remains of the Day" author Kazuo Ishiguro wins the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature

Yesterday, British author Kazuo Ishiguro was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature. While making the announcement for this Prize, the Nobel Committee said that Ishiguro “in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.” Ishiguro is well known for his works such as The Remains of the Day, Never Let Me Go, and The Buried Giant. He also won the Man Booker Prize in 1989.

Ishiguro was chosen over other nominees such as Haruki Murakami and Margaret Atwood. He confessed to having been “taken by surprise” and feeling honored. The Swedish academy described Ishiguro’s work as: “If you mix Jane Austen and Kafka you have Kazuo Ishiguro’s work. But you have to add a little bit of Marcel Proust into the mix, and then you stir, but not too much. He’s a writer of great integrity. He doesn’t look to the side, he’s developed an aesthetic universe all his own.”

Speaking of the impact of this prize, Ishiguro said, “It reminds us of how international the world is, and we all have to contribute things from our different corners of the world.” He is the first British author to become a Nobel Laureate in literature in a decade since Doris Lessing won it in 2007.

Congratulations to Kazuo Ishiguro!