Claire Kohda

{{Infobox person

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| birth_name = Claire Lyokho Kohda Hazelton

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1990}}

| birth_place =

| othername = Claire Kohda Hazelton

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

| years_active = 2014–present

| partner = Tom Lathan

| website =

}}

Claire Lyokho Kohda Hazelton (born 1990) is an English writer, violinist, and illustrator. She is known for her debut novel Woman, Eating (2022).

Early life

Born to a Japanese mother and an English father, Kohda is from the Thanet District of Kent.{{Cite web|url=https://mixedmessages.substack.com/p/claire-kohda-i-wouldnt-change-being|title=Claire Kohda: "I wouldn't change being mixed-race for anything"|work=Mixed Messages|first=Isabella|last=Silvers|date=13 June 2022|accessdate=28 August 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/profiles/article/88250-writers-to-watch-spring-2022.html|title=Writers to Watch Spring 2022|work=Publishers' Weekly|first=David|last=Varno|date=7 January 2022|accessdate=28 August 2024}} She attended Clarendon House Grammar School in Ramsgate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/a-level-results---who-in-thanet--a42420/|title=A-level results - who in Thanet has made the grade?|work=Kent Online|date=14 August 2008|accessdate=5 October 2024}}

Career

=Writing=

Under the names Claire Hazelton or Claire Kohda Hazelton, she began her career writing literary reviews for The Guardian, and then the Times Literary Supplement and The Spectator.{{Cite web|url=https://muckrack.com/claire-hazelton/articles|title=Articles by Claire Hazelton|website=MuckRack|accessdate=12 October 2024}} She also contributed to The F-Word blog{{Cite web|url=https://thefword.org.uk/author/claire-hazelton/|title=Author: Claire Hazelton|work=The F-Word|accessdate=22 October 2024}} Financial Times, Frieze, and Asymptote.{{Cite web|url=https://www.asymptotejournal.com/criticism/adonis-adonis-violence-and-islam-conversations-with-houria-abdelouahed/|title=Claire Kohda Hazelton reviews Violence and Islam: Conversations with Houria Abdelouahed by Adonis|work=Asymptote|author=Claire Kohda Hazelton|date=January 2017|accessdate=2 November 2024}}

At the end of 2020 and start of 2021,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/virago-wins-kohdas-millennial-vampire-debut-six-way-auction-1230995|title=Virago wins Kohda's Millennial vampire debut in six-way auction|work=The Bookseller|first=Katherine|last=Cowdrey|date=17 December 2020|accessdate=22 October 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/85276-book-deals-week-of-january-11-2021.html|title=Harper Tucks in to Kohda's 'Woman, Eating'|work=Publishers' Weekly|first=Rachel|last=Deahl|date=8 January 2021|accessdate=7 October 2024}} Virago Press and HarperVia (a HarperCollins imprint) acquired the rights Kohda's debut novel Woman, Eating, which was published in spring 2022 to critical acclaim.{{Cite web|url=https://theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/14/woman-eating-by-claire-kohda-review-millennial-vampire-tale-with-bite/|title=Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda review – millennial vampire tale with bite|journal=The Guardian|first=Lucy|last=Popescu|date=14 March 2022|accessdate=11 October 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/woman-eating-by-claire-kohda-review-tdmkm5z92|title=Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda review — a millennial vampire in London|journal=The Times|first=Madeleine|last=Feeney|date=26 March 2022|accessdate=11 October 2024}} The novel is a character study on Lydia, "millennial vampire" art school graduate living on her own in London for the first time. Kohda had written the novel during the COVID-19 lockdown when her violin career was put on hold.{{Cite web|url=https://www.betterwordspodcast.com/episode/woman-eating-claire-kohda|title=Vampires with a twist and genre constructs with Claire Kohda|work=Better Words Podcast|first=Caitlin|last=Toohey|date=27 April 2022|accessdate=11 October 2024}} She wanted to "step away from… reverence for the vampire" and "remove the vampire from the horror genre", taking inspiration from Asian literature that features the supernatural in grounded settings, to dissect human nature "by observing Lydia trying to just simply live her life in our world".{{Cite web|url=https://electricliterature.com/claire-kohda-women-eating-novel/|title=A Vampire Hungry for Blood and Intimacy|work=Electric Literature|first=JR|last=Ramakrishnan|date=20 April 2022|accessdate=12 October 2024}}

Kohda contributed a short story to the 2023 collection Furies: Stories of the Wicked, Wild and Untamed{{Cite web|url=https://theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/12/furies-stories-of-the-wicked-wild-and-untamed-review-a-slick-and-starry-collection-by-women-writers|title=Furies: Stories of the Wicked, Wild and Untamed review – a slick and starry collection of short stories|journal=The Guardian|first=Bidisha|last=Mamata|date=12 March 2023|accessdate=8 October 2024}} and illustrations to her partner Tom Lathan's 2024 book Lost Wonders: 10 Tales of Extinction from the 21st Century. She joined the judges' panel of the 2025 Women's Prize Discoveries programme.{{Cite web|url=https://womensprize.com/launch-discoveries-2025/|title=Launching Discoveries 2025|website=Women's Prize|accessdate=11 October 2024}}

=Music=

Kohda plays a John Edward Betts violin, a Charles Espey bow, and the koto.{{Cite web|url=https://harrisonfrankfoundation.com/claire-kohda/|title=Claire Kohda|website=The Harrison-Frank Family Foundation|accessdate=22 October 2024}} As a professional violinist, Kohda contributed to Max Richter's Voices and Voices 2. With the London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), her contributions appeared on National's 2023 albums First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track. She recorded with the (LCO) at Abbey Road Studios for the Sigur Rós album Átta.{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/ja/artist/7835166-Claire-Kohda-Hazelton|title=Claire Kohda Hazelton|website=Discogs|accessdate=22 October 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://sigurros.com/music/atta/|title=Átta|website=Sigur Rós|accessdate=22 October 2024}} She also played with the likes of Jessie Ware, Pete Tong, Ella Eyre, RY X and Deep Purple as well as the English Chamber Orchestra and the Heritage Orchestra. She contributed to the soundtracks of the films The Two Popes (2019), The Matrix Resurrections (2021), and Tár (2022).{{Cite web|url=https://electricliterature.com/an-end-by-claire-kohda/|title=On the Origin of an Ending|work=Electric Literature|first=Halimah|last=Marcus|date=27 March 2024|accessdate=11 October 2024}}

Personal life

Kohda is in a relationship with environmental author and journalist Tom Lathan.{{Cite web|url=https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2024/11/17/book-review-lost-wonders-10-tales-of-extinction-from-the-21st-century/|title=Book Review – Lost Wonders: 10 Tales of Extinction from the 21st Century|work=Inquisitive Biologist|first=Leon|last=Vlieger|date=17 November 2024|accessdate=20 November 2024}}