Translator
Cat Anderson
Associated Country:
United Kingdom
Cat Anderson is a British literary translator specializing in Japanese-to-English translation. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, where she studied Japanese, Anderson developed an early interest in contemporary Japanese fiction and speculative literature. After completing her studies, she worked at the Consulate-General of Japan in Edinburgh and later at a professional translation agency before becoming a full-time freelance translator in 2022. Her career reflects a growing commitment to bringing modern Japanese literature to English-speaking readers.
Anderson first gained recognition after winning the Grand Prize in the English category of the fourth Japanese Literature Publishing Project (JLPP) International Translation Competition in 2019. She was subsequently named a finalist for the Kurodahan Press Translation Prize in 2020 and selected for the National Centre for Writing's Emerging Translator Mentorship in 2022. Her translations span literary fiction, manga, and short stories, with a particular passion for science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative works.
Her growing bibliography includes English translations of works by Ogawa Ito, Yuta Takahashi, Nanako Hanada, and other contemporary Japanese authors. Through careful attention to style and voice, Anderson has established herself as one of a new generation of translators helping introduce Japanese literature to international audiences. Alongside novels, she continues to translate manga and short fiction while actively promoting Japanese writing through her professional work.
Anderson first gained recognition after winning the Grand Prize in the English category of the fourth Japanese Literature Publishing Project (JLPP) International Translation Competition in 2019. She was subsequently named a finalist for the Kurodahan Press Translation Prize in 2020 and selected for the National Centre for Writing's Emerging Translator Mentorship in 2022. Her translations span literary fiction, manga, and short stories, with a particular passion for science fiction, fantasy, and other speculative works.
Her growing bibliography includes English translations of works by Ogawa Ito, Yuta Takahashi, Nanako Hanada, and other contemporary Japanese authors. Through careful attention to style and voice, Anderson has established herself as one of a new generation of translators helping introduce Japanese literature to international audiences. Alongside novels, she continues to translate manga and short fiction while actively promoting Japanese writing through her professional work.
Translated Books
What’s the difference between feeling and thinking? Envision your feelings as a jellyfish, extending your thoughts down through its tentacles not only into the rest of your body, but out into the...
The Bookshop Woman 2026
Nanako Hanada is a passionate book lover who manages the Village Vanguard, an iconically eccentric bookstore in Tokyo. But her story takes a turn with the breakdown of her marriage. Spending her...
You always told me that writing is life itself. After many years abroad, Hatoko reluctantly returns to Kamakura to take over the stationery store left to her by her late grandmother.
As the custodian...
One sunny morning, the Chibineko Kitchen opens its doors to Nagi, a young woman facing an impossible choice: Should she marry her boyfriend, despite knowing she has only a few years left to live?...
In a remote seaside town outside of Tokyo, Kotoko makes her way along a seashell path, lured by whispers of an enigmatic restaurant whose kagezen, or traditional meals offered in remembrance of loved...