Spence School Library: 2024 English Elective: Kazuo Ishiguro: Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro: Biography & general sources about his writing

Author statement: 'I am a writer who wishes to write international novels. What is an 'international' novel? I believe it to be one, quite simply, that contains a vision of life that is of importance to people of varied backgrounds around the world. It may concern characters who jet across continents, but may just as easily be set firmly in one small locality.' - https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/kazuo-ishiguro

The “Inscrutable” Voices of Asian-Anglophone Fiction
The New Yorker, By Jane Hu, November 15, 2017
The Tone of Rumors: Imperial Tours and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Critique of Japanese Exceptionalism
Xiang, Sunny. Tonal Intelligence : The Aesthetics of Asian Inscrutability During the Long Cold War, Columbia University Press, 2020.
Kazuo Ishiguro Biographical
From the Nobel Prize website.
Writing about Cultural Change (Kazuo Ishiguro)
In this 1995 video from the University of Washington with Upon Reflection host Marcia Alvar, Kazuo talks about his writing process, expectations and how coping with failure amidst national changes in culture became a common theme in his work.
My Twentieth Century Evening – and Other Small Breakthroughs
Kazuo Ishiguro - Nobel Lecture
Rooted in a Small Space: An Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro
Dylan Otto Krider, and Kazuo Ishiguro. “Rooted in a Small Space: An Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro.” The Kenyon Review, vol. 20, no. 2, 1998, pp. 146–54.
Ambivalence of Cosmopolitanism: A Study of Kazuo Ishiguro's Writing
Liu, Tingxuan. "Ambivalence of Cosmopolitanism: A Study of Kazuo Ishiguro's Writing." Journal of Language Teaching and Research 12, no. 4 (2021): 611+.
Unimaginable Largeness: Kazuo Ishiguro, Translation, and the New World Literature
Walkowitz, Rebecca L. “Unimaginable Largeness: Kazuo Ishiguro, Translation, and the New World Literature.” Novel: A Forum on Fiction 40, no. 3 (June 1, 2007): 216–39.
Geocriticism and the fictional worlds of Jhumpa Lahiri and Kazuo Ishiguro
Tom Clark, Emily Finlay, and Philippa Kelly. Worldmaking : Literature, Language, Culture. Vol. 00005. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2017.
Writing Advice From a (Newly Minted) Nobel Winner
The Atlantic, 2017, Megan Garber
“Let’s talk about genre”: Neil Gaiman and Kazuo Ishiguro in conversation
2015, By Neil Gaiman, The New Statesmen
Never Let Me Go: A Profile of Kazuo Ishiguro
Never Let Me Go: A Profile of Kazuo Ishiguro by John Freeman From the May/June 2005 issue of Poets & Writers Magazine

Kazuo Ishiguro : Contemporary Critical Perspectives by Bloomsbury
ISBN: 9780826438799
Publication Date: 2010
This guide traces the main themes throughout Ishiguro's writing whilst it also pays attention to his short stories and writing for television.
Revisiting Loss : Memory, Trauma and Nostalgia in the Novels of Kazuo Ishiguro by Wojciech Drąg
ISBN: 9781443863421
Publication Date: 2014

Interviews posted on YouTube

1950s Japanese Films & Living

Kazuo Ishiguro Elegantly Adapts 1950s Mortality Tale
Kermode, Mark and film critic. "Living Review – Kazuo Ishiguro Elegantly Adapts 1950s Mortality Tale." The Observer, Nov 06, 2022.
Kazuo Ishiguro: My Love Affair with Film
Rashid, Tanjil. "Kazuo Ishiguro: My Love Affair with Film." The Spectator, Nov 05, 2022
"Inspiring images: the influence of the Japanese cinema on the writings of Kazuo Ishiguro."
Mason, Gregory. "Inspiring images: the influence of the Japanese cinema on the writings of Kazuo Ishiguro." East-West Film Journal 3, no. 2 (1989): 39-52.
Made in Translation: Language, “Japaneseness,” “Englishness,” and “Global Culture” in Ishiguro
Karni, Rebecca. “Made in Translation: Language, ‘Japaneseness,’ ‘Englishness,’ and ‘Global Culture’ in Ishiguro.” Comparative Literature Studies 52, no. 2 (2015): 318–48.
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Top 10 Films
"Kazuo Ishiguro and Japanese Films: Concerning the Visual and Auditory Effects and Images of Danchi."
Taketomi, Ria. "Kazuo Ishiguro and Japanese Films: Concerning the Visual and Auditory Effects and Images of Danchi." (2013): 7-20.