Hitomi Kanehara (金原 ひとみ, Kanehara Hitomi) is a Japanese novelist born on August 8, 1983. After dropping out of school and living on the streets for some years, she began writing. Her debut novel, Hebi ni piasu (Snakes and Earrings), won both the Shōsetsu Subaru Literary Prize and the Akutagawa Prize. The novel was a major success and sold over a million copies in Japan. Her works have been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide.