Internationally acclaimed author Keiichiro Hirano shares his insights, vision and passion for the written word.

Keiichiroh Hirano
Novelist
The compulsion to pour one's imagination onto paper is powerful for some of us. Those individuals with this particular and wonderful compulsion could no more not write than not breathe. Such is the case with novelist Keiichiro Hirano. Hirano's writing muse has earned him awards, such as the 120th Akutagawa Award in 1999, which he won while still a student at Kyoto University. His writing has also led him to live in Paris for a year, where he was a cultural ambassador appointed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and to travel through out Europe, giving lectures and talks. His incredible body of work has earned an international following in countries including France, Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Sweden, Egypt, Japan and beyond. His innate writing style has been called precocious and luxuriant, demonstrating an exhaustive knowledge of his subject matter. His works include "Nisshoku", "Kekkai", "Dawn, and "Watashi Towa Nani Ka—'Kojin' Kara 'Bunjin' E". Hirano also has a long-running novel called "Kuhaki wo Mitashinasai" in the "Morning" comic magazine. Hirano continues his work as one of the selectors for the Yukio Mishima Award and Higashikawa International Photo Festival. With each story and novel he has written, it only becomes more obvious that, for Keiichiro Hirano, the siren call to write is irresistible...something for which we should all be very, very glad indeed.

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平野 啓一郎
小説家
小説家。1999年、京都大学在学中に『日蝕』で第120回芥川賞を受賞。当時史上最年少タイ23歳での受賞で、該博な知識と華麗な漢文的文体を駆使して鮮やかに作品を描き出したその早熟な才能は「三島由紀夫の再来」として注目を集めました。2004年には、文化庁の「文化交流使」として1年間パリに滞在。ヨーロッパ各地での精力的な講演活動をはじめ、対談、評論等も積極的に行った20代を経て、2008年には現代人の生の孤独と哀しさ、悪、「幸福」の意味を徹底して追求した『決壊』、翌2009年には「現代の困難の克服」を課題とした近未来小説『ドーン』を発表。『ドーン』では、「分人主義（ディヴィジュアリズム）」、「無領土国家」などの数々のアイディアを、エンターテインメント性と文学性とを両立する「希望の物語」として編み上げ、新境地を示しました。作品は、フランス、韓国、台湾、ロシア、スウェーデン、エジプト等で翻訳され広く海外にも紹介されています。2008年からは、三島由紀夫文学賞選考委員、東川写真賞審査員。現在は、コミック誌『モーニング』に長篇小説『空白を満たしなさい』を連載中。近著は、『私とは何か　「個人」から「分人」へ』（講談社現代新書）。また11月には、最新長篇小説『空白を満たしなさい』（講談社）刊行予定。

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