SONO AYAKO

Sono Ayako is a Catholic author of the Third Generation of postwar writers. Her Enrai no kyakutachi (Visitors from Afar, 1954) was considered for the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize. Her novel Kami no yogoreta te (1979; tr. Watcher from the Sea, 1989) deals with the themes of abortion and the dignity of life, with a gynecologist as the protagonist. Sono and her husband, Miura Shumon, were both awarded the Order of Cultural Merit. In addition to writing narratives and essays, she has served in the leadership of nonprofit foundations.

See also FEMINISM; WOMEN IN LITERATURE.