Haruki Murakami unveils his new brief story at a Tokyo literary occasion

Just one,100 fortunate viewers members have been there to listen to the yet-to-be printed brief story “Kaho,” learn aloud by bestselling Japanese writer Haruki Murakami himself.

The studying came about at a Friday night time e-book occasion referred to as “The Owl Reads in Spring” — a fundraiser for the Waseda Worldwide Home of Literature library at Murakami’s alma mater in Tokyo, additionally that includes award-winning writer Mieko Kawakami.

“It’s freshly made, solely about 10 days in the past,” Murakami informed the viewers, including that he wrote it for the occasion. The final Murakami brief launched was “First Individual Singular,” greater than three years in the past. His prolific literary work additionally consists of essays, non-fiction and translation.

Murakami, relaxed and casually wearing sneakers, denims and a darkish jacket, mentioned writing a narrative for recitation was not simple.

“It’s truly fairly exhausting to put in writing a brand new story for reciting,” Murakami mentioned. “Its content material and elegance have to suit recitation, and it must be comparatively brief.” The story nonetheless got here out too lengthy, he mentioned, and skim it in two elements in the course of the occasion at Waseda College.

Journalists on the occasion have been allowed to report story names, however not their content material.

Now 75 and one of many world’s hottest and acclaimed novelists, Murakami debuted with “Hear the Wind Sing” in 1979, 4 years after he started writing whereas operating a jazz bar in Tokyo. His 1987 romantic novel “Norwegian Wooden” was his first bestseller, establishing him as a younger literary star. His newest bestselling full-length novel, “The Metropolis and its Unsure Partitions,” was launched in 2023 in Japan and is awaiting an English launch.

The Owl occasion is a second for him and Kawakami, who mentioned she is a longtime Murakami fan from years earlier than she grew to become a novelist. The 2 took turns studying aloud at a 2019 occasion the place Murakami unveiled an earlier brief story, “Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey,” later printed as a part of the brief story assortment “First Individual Singular.”

Kawakami, now an acclaimed writer recognized for her bestseller “Breasts and Eggs,” translated to English in 2020, recited her new brief story titled “Watashitachi no Doa (Our Doorways)” at Friday’s occasion.

She debuted as poet and her first novella, “My Ego, My Enamel and the World,” in 2007, and her novel “Heaven” was shortlisted for the 2022 Worldwide Booker Prize.