The name frequently appears in their discussions, with Nobel status mirroring the pattern once seen with Princesa. He lingered at the gates on a few occasions, yet Haruki Murakami (Kyoto, 1949) secured his enduring candidacy, already a cornerstone of world literature and the 2023 Princess of Asturias Literary Award recipient.
A best-selling Japanese novelist known for a straightforward style and a blend of science fiction, magical realism, and surrealism, whose themes of loneliness, love, and loss resonate with a wide audience. The jury emphasized the author’s distinctive voice, noting the universal reach that harmonizes Japanese tradition with Western literary heritage in a bold and inventive narrative.
Murakami has been mentioned alongside luminaries such as Emmanuel Carrère, Anne Carson, Siri Hustvedt, John Banville, Margaret Atwood, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Arthur Miller, Paul Auster, Doris Lessing, and Juan Rulfo. This year’s Letters prize process reached its final stage, with 37 applications from 17 countries. The deciding panel included Santiago Muñoz Machado (president), Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, Xosé Ballesteros, Blanca Berasátegui, Anna Caballé, and Gonzalo Celorio. Other contributors to the discussion included Jesús García, José Luis García Delgado, Pablo Gil Cuevas, Francisco Goyanes, Lola Larumbe, Carmen Millán, Leonardo Padura, José María Pou, Fernando Rodríguez Lafuente, Ana Santos, Jaime Siles, Anne-Hélène Suárez, and Juan Villoro.
The five-book universe of Haruki Murakami
Born in Kyoto and raised in Kobe, Murakami grew up with parents who taught Japanese literature at the high school level. He began his writing apprenticeship alongside them, developing a fascination with American detective novels that pushed him beyond traditional Japanese literature. The 1960s marked a turning point as Western culture moved into the center of his creative world, shaping literature, popular culture, jazz, and rock—and these musical threads appear repeatedly in his work. He studied Literature and Greek at Waseda University, where he met his future wife, Yoko.
His debut novel, Listen to the Wind Sing, emerged when he was thirty, followed by a period of international recognition. Works such as Tokyo Blues, Dance Dance Dance, and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle helped propel his reputation. Later titles include Underground, written after the Kobe earthquake and the Tokyo subway sarin attack, and novels like Kafka on the Shore, After Dark, and the expansive 1Q84, which contributed to a global readership numbering in the tens of millions. Murakami’s body of work spans novels, short stories, essays, and illustrated narratives, often weaving surreal and dreamlike elements with a grounded realism.
Murakami, brand writer
If Murakami’s work excites readers, Asturias book clubs will likely feel the same energy again this year. They may read or revisit his novels, and if the author travels to Spain to accept the prize at Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo in October, interested readers could seize the chance for direct dialogue with the writer.
A rosary of “popular” awards
The 2023 Princess of Asturias Awards showcase notable popularity. Of the five prizes that compose each edition, several have already been conferred. The Arts Award went to American actress Meryl Streep, the Communications and Humanities Award to Italian scholar and philosopher Nuccio Ordine, the Social Sciences Award to French historian Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, and the Sports Award was presented to Kenyan athlete Eliud Kipchoge.
In the upcoming weeks, prizes for International Cooperation, Scientific and Technical Research, and Concordia will be announced. The Princess of Asturias Awards ceremony remains a formal October event, led by the King and Queen of Spain, with the Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofía in attendance.
Each Princess of Asturias Award includes a Joan Miró statue, a diploma, an insignia, and a prize of fifty thousand euros.