Katie Kitamura

American novelist, journalist and art critic

Katie Kitamura

Kitamura in 2025

Born| 1979 (age 45–46)
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Language| English
Education| Princeton University
London Consortium (PhD)
Notable works| The Longshot
Spouse| Hari Kunzru
Children| 2[1]

Katie Kitamura (born 1979) is an American novelist, journalist, and art critic. As of April 2025, she was teaching creative writing at New York University.

## Early life and education

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Katie Kitamura was born in Sacramento, California[2] in 1979 to a family of Japanese origin,[3] and raised in Davis, where her father Ryuichi was a professor at UC Davis Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.[4][5][6]

Kitamura graduated from Princeton University in New Jersey in 1999. She earned a PhD in American literature from the London Consortium.[7] Her thesis was titled The Aesthetics of Vulgarity and the Modern American Novel (2005).[8]

Earlier in her life, Kitamura trained as a ballerina.[9][10]

## Career

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Kitamura wrote Japanese for Travellers: A Journey, describing her travels across Japan and examining the dichotomies of its society and her own place in it as a Japanese-American.[11]

Kitamura was introduced to mixed martial arts in Japan by her brother.[12] Her first novel, The Longshot, published in 2009, is about the preparation undertaken by a fighter and his trainer ahead of a championship bout against a famous opponent. The cover art of the US edition of her book features the title tattooed on knuckles; the knuckles are her brother's.[9] Kitamura's second novel, Gone to the Forest, published in 2013, is set in an unnamed colonial country and describes the life and suffering of a landowning family against a backdrop of civil strife and political change.[13]

Kitamura's 2017 novel A Separation will be adapted for a film starring Katherine Waterston.[14] Her novel Intimacies appeared in 2021.

Kitamura writes for The Guardian, The New York Times, and Wired.[4] She has written articles on mixed martial arts,[15] film criticism and analysis,[16] and art.[17][18]

## Awards and recognition

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In 2010, Kitamura's The Longshot was shortlisted for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award.[19] In 2013, her Gone to the Forest was also shortlisted for the Young Lions Fiction Award. In 2021, Kitamura's Intimacies was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction.[20] In 2025 Kitamura was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.[21]

## Selected bibliography

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### Autobiography

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* —— (2006). Japanese for Travellers: A Journey. Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 978-0241142899.

### Novels

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* —— (2009). The Longshot: A Novel. Free Press. ISBN 978-1439117606.
* —— (2013). Gone to the Forest. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1847659071.
* —— (2017). A Separation. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0399576126.
* —— (2021). Intimacies. Riverhead Books. ISBN 978-0399576164.
* —— (2025). Audition. Riverhead Books. ISBN 978-0593852323.

### Journalism

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* Art criticism in frieze magazine.[22]
* Art criticism in Contemporary magazine.[23]

## Personal life

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Kitamura is married to author Hari Kunzru.[24]

## References

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1. ^ Kunzru-Kitamura children
2. ^ Yu, Brandon (July 12, 2021). "Katie Kitamura and the Cognitive Dissonance of Being Alive Right Now". New York Times. p. C1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
3. ^ Philip Womack (January 11, 2013). "Five young novelists for 2013". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
4. ^ a b "Katie Kitamura". Conville & Walsh literary agency. Archived from the original on December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
5. ^ "Katie Kitamura: Japanese for Travellers - Hamish Hamilton books". Archived from the original on 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
6. ^ "Tributes & Biography: The Life and Contributions of Ryuichi Kitamura". ITS. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
7. ^ Samantha Kuok Leese (August 10, 2012). "Katie Kitamura interview". Spectator. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
8. ^ "PhD Titles". The London Consortium. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
9. ^ a b Will Doig (August 19, 2009). "How to Fight Like a Girl". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
10. ^ "Katie Kitamura interviews at Simon & Schuster". Retrieved December 8, 2013.
11. ^ Sophie Campbell (August 30, 2006). "Japan through American eyes". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
12. ^ Katherine Federici Greenwood (November 18, 2009). "In the ring". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 111 (5). Retrieved December 8, 2013.
13. ^ Sarah Hall (February 6, 2013). "Gone to the Forest by Katie Kitamura – review". The Guardian. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
14. ^ Hipes, Patrick (February 1, 2017). "Katherine Waterston To Star In Movie Adaptation Of Upcoming Novel 'A Separation'". Deadline. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
15. ^ Katie Kitamura (April 29, 2006). "The harder they come". The Guardian. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
16. ^ Katie Kitamura (June 15, 2012). "With Grain: A Q&A with Apichatpong Weerasethakul". Asian American Writers' Workshop. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
17. ^ Katie Kitamura (January 19, 2009). "Little London Prop Shop Turns Ideas Into Art". Wired. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
18. ^ Katie Kitamura (August 2008). "Liam Gillick". Frieze Magazine (114). Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
19. ^ "Provocateurs, Mind Bogglers, and Tragedians: Five Young Literary Talents Chosen as Finalists for The New York Public Library's 2010 Young Lions Fiction Award" (Press release). New York Public Library. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
20. ^ "The 2021 National Book Awards Longlist: Fiction". The New Yorker. 2021-09-17.
21. ^ "Announcing the 2025 Guggenheim Fellows". Guggenheim Fellowship. Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
22. ^ "Articles by Katie Kitamura". Frieze Magazine. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
23. ^ "Contemporary magazine". Contemporary Magazine. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
24. ^ Jonathan Lee (September 3, 2013). "Bare-Knuckle Writing". Guernica. Retrieved December 8, 2013.

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