Interview with Shizuka Otake, Winner of the annual Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award

Shizuka Otake is a writer, translator, and interpreter born in New York City. In her twenties, she lived in Tokyo for four years, and now wishes she had a magic door so she could commute between the two cities. She loves mystery novels; Japanese TV; and traveling – a.k.a. prowling bookstores and eating. 

Otake writes about identity, the lies we tell for love, and the need to find home, and this year, she was selected as the winner from over 50 story submissions to Sisters in Crime’s Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award. We’re excited to share a bit about her win, her story, and her big plans for the annual $2,000 grant for an emerging writer of color.

How does it feel to be this year’s recipient of the Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color?

I’m thrilled and honored to be recognized by Sisters in Crime. Writing as an unpublished writer can be so lonely. Winning the award makes me feel like I’m not just talking to myself in an empty room, but that the judges – Sujata Massey, Wanda Morris, and D. Ann Williams – heard what I was trying to say. Sujata Massey’s Rei Shimura series is one of my favorites, so seeing her name on the judges list was surreal in the best possible way.  

Can you tell us a bit about your submission Murder in Tokyo?

In Murder in Tokyo, a Japanese American teen’s new life in Tokyo is shattered when her boyfriend is arrested as the prime suspect in a classmate’s murder. After discovering Japan’s conviction rate is 98%, she starts hunting for the real killer with her best friends and hacktivist cousin. As she closes in on the truth, she abandons the good Japanese girl she’s been trying to become and embraces the critical New Yorker she used to be.

I  lived in Tokyo as an adult and found it painful to be viewed as different and foreign. I’d expected to fit in. I wondered how much harder that experience would have been if I was a vulnerable teen. What would happen if my parents died and I had to live with relatives in Japan? And then, what if someone I knew was murdered and someone I loved was blamed? How could I figure out what really happened in a country where I didn’t quite belong?

You received a $2,00 grant to put toward your career development as a writer. Any special activities, classes or plans you have in mind?

I plan to either visit Japan to do more research for my manuscript or attend a mystery writing class at Moniack Mhor in Scotland. If neither seems possible, I’d like to go to Bouchercon and another mystery conference next year. 

That all sounds fun! We’re thrilled that you chose to submit your piece this year. What was it that inspired you to do so?

I wanted to see if what I was writing appealed to anyone besides my critique partner. I also hoped that if I won, it would help me when I started looking for an agent. 

That would be wonderful! Do you have any future stories / novel ideas you’re dying to get onto paper? If so – any details you can share with us?

I’m planning a sequel to Murder in Tokyo. When her best friend Mika disappears and no one calls the police, Ayu doesn’t believe it’s a simple runaway situation. She has to find Mika before a vengeful gang member finds her first. I also have an idea for a speculative YA novel set during the 2011 Earthquake. 

Anything else you’d like to share?

I love that more people are talking about reading diversely and creating reading challenges. But for some people, that can make reading feel like homework. The best reason to read diversely is that it’s fascinating to experience lives unlike your own. It’s also amazing to discover how much you have in common with someone who seems completely unlike you.

 

June 9, 2022 – Sisters in Crime (SinC) announced today that the 2022 winner of the annual Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award is Shizuka Otake of Jackson Heights, NY. Her submission, Murder in Tokyo, is a story of a Japanese American teen’s life which is shattered when her boyfriend is arrested as the prime suspect in a classmate’s murder. “I lived in Tokyo as an adult and found it painful to be viewed as different,” said Otake. “I expected to fit in and wondered how much harder that experience would have been if I was a vulnerable teen.”

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Established in 2014, The Eleanor Taylor Bland Award is strongly aligned with SinC’s mission to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of current and prospective members and intends to support a recipient at the beginning of their crime writing career. The grantee may choose to apply the grant toward workshops, seminars, conferences, retreats, online courses and research activities to assist in completion of their work. Otake’s story was selected from several submissions by 2022 judges D.Ann Williams, Sujata Massey and Wanda Morris.

“I’m thrilled and honored to be recognized by Sisters in Crime,” said Otake. “With this generous grant, I plan to either visit Japan to do more research for my manuscript or attend a mystery writing class at Moniack Mhor in Scotland.”

In addition to Otake’s 2022 achievement, Sisters in Crime has also awarded five runners-up with a year-long membership to the organization. Recipients include Danielle Arceneaux (Brooklyn, NY), Amber Boothe (Crowthorne, England), Jennifer K. Morita (Sacramento, CA), Valerie Kemp (Ann Arbor, MI), and Kathy A. Norris (Los Angeles, CA).

Eleanor Taylor Bland (1944-2010) paved the way for fresh voices in crime fiction by showcasing complex characters that had previously been peripheral to or simply missing from the genre. Dead Time (1992), the first in her series of novels, introduced African-American police detective Marti MacAlister, an enduring and beloved heroine who overturned stereotypes that had been perpetuated in much of American popular culture. Bland also published more than 50 works of short crime fiction and edited the 2004 collection, Shades of Black: Crime and Mystery Stories by African-American Authors.

Sisters in Crime (SinC) was founded in 1986 to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers. Today, the organization boasts 4,000 members and 59 chapters worldwide and its initiatives also include other scholarships, grants for academic research into the roles of women and underserved voices in crime fiction; cash awards to libraries and bookstores; and surveys and monitoring projects which determine visibility and representation of women and diverse voices in the genre and across the marketplace.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing