今村夏子
Born 1980 · Japan
Akutagawa 2019 (first half) · Winner
むらさきのスカートの女 · Murasaki no sukāto no onna
Natsuko Imamura · 39 when first published
Novel · 216 pages
AI-generated summary:Fixated on a local woman everyone calls the Woman in the Purple Skirt, the narrator schemes to get her hired at her own workplace so they can be friends.
Akutagawa 2017 (first half) · Candidate
Hoshi no ko
Title translated by AI:“Child of the Stars”
Natsuko Imamura · 37 when first published
Novel · 220 pages · Family, Coming of age
AI-generated summary:Chihiro, a ninth-grader, was frail from birth, and her parents' frantic efforts to make her well led them into a dubious religion whose beliefs have slowly warped their household.
Akutagawa 2016 (first half) · Candidate
Ahiru
Title translated by AI:“The Duck”
Natsuko Imamura · 36 when first published
Novella · 140 pages · Family
AI-generated summary:After her family adopts a duck, local children start calling round after school, but when it gets sick and goes to the animal hospital they vanish, and the duck that comes home a fortnight later is noticeably smaller.