Hatsue Nakawaki (1974–)  made her literary debut while still in high school, when she won the 1991 Botchan Literary Award for her story Sakana no yō ni (Like a Fish). She studied folklore at the University of Tsukuba, and her subsequent fiction titles include Konkon-sama (The Fox Shrine House), Akai hana (Red Flowers), and Kitōshi no musume(The Shaman’s Daughter).

With her interest turning increasingly toward children, she began writing picture books and nursery tales. Korya mate mate (Wait! Wait!; artwork by Komako Sakai) and Akai kuma (The Red Bear). Alongside her writing, she took up narrating traditional folk tales, and wrote stories based on them as well, including Yuki onna (Snow Maiden) and the onomatopoeic Chinkororin. She also sought out traditional stories from all around Japan in which girls play major roles, and gathered them into a collection titled Onna no ko no mukashi banashi (Folktales for Little Girls).

Returning to creative fiction after a hiatus of eight years, her collection of stories Kimi wa ii ko (You’re a Good Kid) won the 2012 Tsubota Jōji Literature Award. Took first place in the 2012 Shizuoka Bookstore Grand Prize, and came in fourth in the 2013 Booksellers Award balloting. Set in the same suburban town as Kimi wa ii ko, her most recent novel Watashi o mitsukete (Finding Me) was short-listed for the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize.