Michael Pronko
Biography
Michael Pronko is a Tokyo-based writer of murder, memoir and music. He writes the Detective Hiroshi series of detective mysteries set in Tokyo and the Tokyo Moments series of essays on Tokyo life. Both series have won awards and five-star reviews. Michael also runs the website, Jazz in Japan, which covers the vibrant jazz scene in Tokyo. During his nearly 30 years in Japan, he has written about Japanese culture, art, society and politics for Newsweek Japan, The Japan Times, and Artscape Japan and appeared on NHK TV and Nippon Television about his writings.
Michael grew up in Kansas City, studied philosophy at Brown University, and then traveled for years. He taught English in Beijing for two years and studied Chinese for one year. Somewhere in there, he finished an MA in Education and another in Comp Lit before completing his Ph.D. on film adaptations of Charles Dickens.
He finally settled in Tokyo as a professor of American Literature at Meiji Gakuin University. His seminars focus on contemporary novels, American culture, and film adaptations. His research interests include film adaptation, crime fiction, jazz, and contemporary novels. After discussing Kurt Vonnegut or Jackson Pollock in class he’s in the right frame of mind to wander Tokyo contemplating its intensity.
All of his books have received awards and strong editorial reviews. Kirkus Reviews selected his second novel, The Moving Blade for their Best Books of 2018. His next two novels received Mystery of the Year from Thrillers.com. The fourth in the Tokyo Moments series, Tokyo Tempos, was awarded winner status by the Pencraft and Nonfiction Authors Association and was editor’s choice at Feathered Quill.
More at:
http://www.michaelpronko.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pronkoauthor
https://twitter.com/pronkomichael
Achievements & Recognitions
Winner Mystery Independent Press Award (2023)
1st place Category Chanticleer CLUE (2024)
Finalist Best Thrillers.com (2024)
Finalist SPR Book Awards (2023)
Finalist Chanticleer International Book Awards (2024)
Silver Award Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards
Semi-finalist Booklife Prize (2024) (Best of 2024)
Gold Award Literary Titan (2023)
Azabu Getaway (2022)
Brag Medallion Honoree Book Readers Appreciation Group (2023)
Winner Best Crime Thriller BestThrillers.com (2022)
Winner Mystery Independent Press Award (2023)
Finalist Clue Awards Thriller/Mystery (2022)
Gold Book Award Literary Titan (2022)
Bronze Medal Global Book Awards (2022)
Bronze Award Mystery/Thriller ReaderViews (2022)
Notable Indie Book of the Year Shelf Unbound Awards (2022)
Top Ten Indie Books of the Year The BookBag (2022)
Tokyo Zangyo (2021)
Winner Mystery of the Year BestThrillers.com (2021)
Gold Medal Reader’s Favorite Mystery (2022)
Gold Medallion Book Readers Appreciation Group (2021)
Gold Award Literary Titan Book Award (2021)
Silver Award Independent Publisher Awards IPPY (2022)
Silver Medal Global eBook Awards for Mystery Fiction (2022)
Bronze Award Reader Views Literary Awards (2021-2022)
Tokyo Traffic (2020)
Gold Award Literary Titan (2020)
Gold Medallion Book Readers Appreciation Group (B.R.A.G.) (2020)
Long-listed Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book (2020)
Reviewer’s Choice Feathered Quill Book Awards (2020)
Winner Thriller Independent Press Award (2021)
Winner Thriller National Indie Excellence Awards 2021
Silver Medal Reader’s Favorite Fiction Mystery Murder
Silver Winner Thriller and Suspense Foreword Indies 2020
Bronze Award Reader Views Reviewer’s Choice Awards 2020-2021 Mystery/Thriller
The Moving Blade (2018)
Named One of Kirkus Reviews Best Indie Mysteries and Thrillers (2018)
Grand Prize Winner Chanticleer International Book Awards Global Thrillers (2018)
Winner Independent Press Award for Crime Fiction (2019)
Gold Award Literary Titan Book Award (2018)
Five Star Honoree B.R.A.G. Medallion (2018)
Gold Award Independent Publisher Awards for Mystery (2019)
Silver Medal Readers’ Favorite for Thriller (2019)
The Last Train (2017)
Winner Shelf Unbound Best Independently Published Book (2018)
Solo Medalist Winner New Apple E-Book Awards for Mystery (2017)
Winner Beverly Hills Book Awards for Crime Fiction (2017)
Winner Best Mystery Book Excellence Awards for Mystery (2017)
Winner Independent Press Award for Mystery and for Thriller (2018)
Global Award Reader Views (2017-2018)
Gold Award Literary Titan Book Award (2017)
Silver Honoree IBPA Benjamin Franklin Digital Awards (2017)
Silver Award Feathered Quill Awards (2018)
Silver Award Independent Publisher Book Awards (2018)
“Hiroshi is now as synonymous with Tokyo crime fiction as Harry Bosch is to LA noir.” BestThrillers
“If there’s a better crime series set in Japan, I’ve not yet read it.” Crime Thriller Hound
“Pronko does as good a job of taking us on a trip through Tokyo—and a sweet and mournful journey it is—as Simenon does through Inspector Maigret’s Paris.” BookLife Prize
“The author uses his wealth of sheer passion for the area and its people, and writes this unique color and vibrancy into his characters and their surroundings. This continues to be an international police procedural that is suspenseful and has its own amazing flavor.” ReaderViews
