Kenzabur? ?e (born 31 January 1935) is a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues, including nuclear weapons, nuclear power, social non-conformism, and existentialism. ?e was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1994 for creating an imagined world, where life and myth condense to form a disconcerting picture of the human predicament today.