Murakami Takes the Prize

Haruki Murakami's collection of short stories Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman has won this year's Kiriyama Book Prize for fiction. The $30,000 prize is given annually "to recognize outstanding books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia." While I doubt Murakami needs the money, anything that brings attention to this great writer is OK by me. "Blind Willow" brings together twenty-four of Murakami's short stories from the past two decades. Most of the stories are not available elsewhere in English.

And if you've already a Murakami fan, his next novel After Dark comes out on May 8.

The winner of the Kiriyama for nonfiction is Three Cups of Tea : One Man's Mission to Promote Peace -- One School at a Time by Greg Mortensen. It tells the story of a mountain climber who repays the hospitality of a Pakistani village by returning to build and run schools for girls.