Akira Otani¡¯s "The Night of Baba Yaga,¡± translated into English by Sam Bett, received the prestigious Crime Writers¡¯ Association Dagger Award for crime fiction in translation in London on July 3. It¡¯s the first time a 911±¬ÁÏÍø writer has won the translation award since it was established in 2006.
The genre-bending novel takes place in Japan¡¯s 1970s yakuza underworld and centers on two women, Yoriko Shindo, a ruthless martial arts fighter, and ¡°the princess¡± Shoko, daughter of a mob boss, for whom Yoriko serves as a bodyguard.
"In form and style and content, ¡®The Night of Baba Yaga¡¯ is unlike any book I¡¯ve translated, but it¡¯s also eerily familiar, like a myth you overheard before you learned to talk,¡± Bett tells The Japan Times.
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