Hitomi Kanehara, 25
Birthplace: Tokyo
Books: Snakes And Earrings (2003), Ash Baby (2004), Amebic (2005), Autofiction (2006)
Only Autofiction is available here at Books Kinokuniya for $18.95

Much has been written about the contrast between Kanehara's sweet Barbie-doll looks and the graphic nature of her writing.

But what is surprising is the quiet, measured tone of her e-mail replies to questions from Life!.

She sounds modest and demure, disclosing little about her personal life.

Asked what she will talk about in Singapore at the Asia On The Edge festival, she says: 'I have no idea because I am not very good at making speeches in front of a big audience and I get nervous just thinking about it.'

The young writer rose to fame because of Snakes And Earrings, published to a scandalised Japanese public in 2003.

The story is about a teenager who has an overwhelming desire to pursue extreme body piercing, tattoos and violent sex.

The book shocked audiences because it was a radical departure from the cultural expectations of how Japanese women should behave. It became an instant bestseller in Japan.

The book later won the prestigious Akutagawa literary prize, given to novellas.

Previous recipients include writer and Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe and well-regarded novelist Yoko Tawada.

Snakes And Earrings has since been translated into several languages, including English.

She went on to write Autofiction, an elegant novel about a paranoid woman who worries continually that her husband is cheating on her.

The story is told backwards and the reader begins to see where the character's sexual anxieties stem from.

Kanehara, who used to be anorexic and would cut herself, says she never intended to paint a portrait of Japanese youth culture, adding that she writes what is close to her.

Her father, a translator and a university professor, had encouraged her to write even after she dropped out of school at age 15.

She says: 'Like many young Japanese people, I don't feel that news of political events on TV are related to me.

'How I am right now, my schedules, the people beside me, they are more realistic for me. And these are the things I emphasise in my writing.'

She alludes to being a mother in the interview but her marital status is unconfirmed: 'I have been occupying myself with household chores, child-rearing since I had a baby.

'I feel fulfilled when I finish writing a novel, meet a deadline or when I go shopping.'

She is now tentatively working on a 'long story on the communication tools of the younger generation'.

And in true Kanehara-style ambiguity, she adds: 'It may become a totally different story.'

» Meet Hitomi Kanehara at The Play Den in The Arts House on Dec 6, 11am. At 4pm, she will participate in a panel discussion with Mian Mian.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 6, 2008.