My Twentieth Century Evening and Other Small Breakthroughs

In their announcement of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Swedish Academy recognized the emotional force of Kazuo Ishiguro’s fiction and his mastery of uncovering our illusory sense of connection with the world. In the eloquent and candid lecture he delivered upon accepting the award, Ishiguro reflects on the way he was shaped by his upbringing, and on the turning points in his career - “small scruffy moments... quiet, private sparks of revelation” - that made him the writer he is today. 

With the same generous humanity that has graced his novels, Ishiguro here looks beyond himself, to the world that new generations of writers are taking on, and what it will mean - what it will demand of us - to make certain that literature remains not just alive, but essential. 

Ending with a rallying call for the ongoing importance of literature in the world, it is a characteristically thoughtful and moving piece. An enduring work on writing and becoming a writer, by one of the most accomplished novelists of our generation.