Taeko Kono

Taeko Kono (1926–2015) is one of the most significant Japanese writers in the twentieth century, whose work, often shocking and electrifying, interrogated prevailing myths and paradigms surrounding gender and sexuality in postwar Japan. She has been described as “one of the most radically talented writers of her generation” and as a “writer’s writer” whose “often épater work was hailed for its spark and originality by writers as unlike her as Kenzaburo Oe and Shusaku Endo” (Eric Banks).