Rin Usami

Rin Usami is a Japanese novelist born in 1993 in Shizuoka Prefecture. She is one of the youngest writers to win the Akutagawa Prize and one of the most internationally recognized Japanese writers of her generation. Her fiction is known for its intense psychological focus and its exploration of the inner lives of young women at moments of crisis. Usami's debut novel Kaka was published in 2019 to critical acclaim. Oshi, Moyu (Idol Burning / Scorch Marks), which won the Akutagawa Prize in 2020 (announced for the second half of 2020), follows a young woman's all-consuming obsession with a pop idol and its catastrophic consequences for her life. The novel is written in a breathless, fragmented prose that mirrors the narrator's psychological state. Idol Burning was translated into English by Asa Yoneda and published internationally to wide critical acclaim. The novel was praised for its formal achievement — sustaining an almost unbearable intensity for its full length — and for its exploration of fandom, parasocial relationships, and the particular vulnerabilities of young women. Usami is regarded as one of the most exciting young Japanese writers, and her debut has established her as a major presence in international literary fiction.