Podcast appearances and mentions of Yukiko Motoya

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read:Elsewhere, Home, by Leila AboulelaThe Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories, by Yukiko Motoya, translated by Asa YonedaThe Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories, by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell

Drop the dishes and let's get JACKED!!!'Picnic In The Storm' by Yukiko Motoya is a series of 11 short stories of everyday life in Japan, but with a twist. So inside you'll find stories about a housewife getting jacked, a cat that won't stop peeing everywhere and couples that keep merging into one entity. They were kind of fun although I found them more random than anything else.Hope you appreciate the new shorter format and want to thank Cole for all his fabulous voice acting!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro(3:17) - Questions/Themes(7:07) - Author & Extras(10:31) - Summary(12:51) - Value 4 Value(15:33) - Join Live!Value 4 Value Support:Boostagram: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/supportPaypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/meremortalspodcastConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Discord: https://discord.gg/jjfq9eGReUTwitter/X: https://twitter.com/meremortalspodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meremortalspodcast

¿Y si se extiende una falsa versión de la historia de Napoleón por culpa de Ridley Scott? Se lo preguntamos al mayor experto en la figura del emperador con Antonio Delgado. Conxita nos da la versión cinematográfica de la película y Miguel Ángel Delgado viene a los viernes de ciencia ficción con 'Selección automática' de Yukiko Motoya. Jesús Marchamalo sobre una recopilación de Cuttlas y Leyre Guerrero nos pone el nuevo disco de Andre 3000. Escuchar audio

This week, Jenn recommends two speculative fiction favorites. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. To get even more SF/F news and recs, sign up for our Swords and Spaceships newsletter! Looking for fascinating stories, informed takes, useful advice, and more from experts in the world of books and reading? Subscribe to Book Riot's newest newsletter, The Deep Dive, to get exclusive content delivered to your inbox. Subscribe and choose your membership level today at bookriot.substack.com This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Books Discussed The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell (cw: rape, racism, racial slurs) The Lonesome Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya, translated by Asa Yoneda Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

¿Les ha pasado? Jeje --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/letras-salvajes/message

Daniel Koch möchte euch im Juli vor allem Bücher ans Herz und in den Strandkorb legen, die eher gute Vibes verbreiten, ohne dabei banal zu sein. Das führt ihn diesmal zur japanischen Autorin Yukiko Motoya und ihre Short-Story-Sammlung „Die einsame Bodybuilderin“. Es ist das erste Buch Motoyas, das in deutscher Sprache erschien – und zwar vor einigen Wochen bei „Blumenbar“ im Aufbau Verlag. „Die einsame Bodybuilderin“ enthält 11 Stories, die allesamt im vermeintlichen Alltag beginnen und dann irgendwann ins Seltsame abbiegen. Das liest sich zugleich lockerflockig weg – spukt einem dann aber noch eine ganze Weile im Kopf herum. Vor allem, weil in vielen dieser Geschichten eine Art poetischer Widerstand gegen den Alltag, die Langweiler, die faulen Ehemänner zu spüren ist. Ein Gefühl, das man dann noch eine Weile mitnimmt.

Die Japanerin Yukiko Motoya mag das Geheimnisvolle. Nun ist ihr Kurzgeschichten-Band "Die einsame Bodybuilderin" erschienen.

In dieser Folge mit Meike, Robin & Anika: „Das Jahresbankett der Totengräber“ von Mathias Énard, „Die einsame Bodybuilderin“ von Yukiko Motoya und „Ich hatte vergessen, dass ich verwundbar bin“ von Delphine de Vigan. Der Themenzettel ist prall gefüllt, also starten wir direkt durch! Im Vorgeplänkel freuen wir uns darüber, dass Raven Leilani mit „Luster“ den Dylan Thomas Prize gewonnen hat und schauen auf einen öffentlichkeitswirksamen Wechsel im Feuilleton.

This episode we’re talking about the Best Books We Read in 2020! (Not necessarily things that came out in 2020, but there are some of those too!) We discuss reading in the pandemic era, “good enough” reads, academic publishing, and more! Plus: Are noodles media? You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | RJ Edwards Favourite Fiction For the podcast Matthew The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark  (From Episode 106 - Alternative/Alternate History) Serre Watch Matthew and Meghan play this visual novel! (From Episode 108 - Visual Novels) Anna Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer (From Episode 115 - New Weird) Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville (From Episode 106 - Alternative/Alternate History) Meghan The Etched City by KJ Bishop (From Episode 115 - New Weird) RJ Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (From Episode 107 - Pet by Akwaeke Emezi) Not for the podcast Anna Binding Shadows by Jasmine Silvera Meghan The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley RJ Saturday by Oge Mora Dayspring by Anthony Oliveira Read online for free Delicious In Dungeon, vol. 1 by Ryoko Kui Matthew A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark Read online for free The Space Traders by Derrick Bell (Wikipedia) Collected in Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree Thomas  68:Hazard:Cold by Janelle C. Shane Read online for free Listen to the podcast version Houses by Mark Pantoja Read online for free The Murderbot Diaries Series by Martha Wells Favourite Non-Fiction For the podcast Meghan Born to Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery (From Episode 092 - Arts (Non-Fiction)) RJ The Debunking Handbook by John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky (From Episode 100 - Library and Information Studies) Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms by John Hodgman (From Episode 104 - Entertainment Non-Fiction) Matthew Comics and Critical Librarianship: Reframing the Narrative in Academic Libraries edited by Olivia Piepmeier and Stephanie Grimm (From Episode 100 - Library and Information Studies)     A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power by Paul Fischer (From Episode 104 - Entertainment Non-Fiction) Anna Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction by Maria T. Accardi (From Episode 100 - Library and Information Studies) Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film by Adilifu Nama (From Episode 104 - Entertainment Non-Fiction) Not for the podcast RJ Dinosaur Feathers by Dennis Nolan Matthew Turned On: Science, Sex and Robots by Kate Devlin Anna On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss Meghan The Undying by Anne Boyer  Other Favourites Things of 2020 Anna The Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb (trailer on YouTube) RJ Dan-Dan Noodles?? Noodles are media, right??? Dandan noodles (Wikipedia) RJ’s recipe  Leather Archives & Museum Instagram account Game Changer episode 1 - The Game Show Where Nobody Knows the Rules (YouTube) Matthew Reply All, episode 158, The Case of the Missing Hit Anarchism & Police Abolition｜Feat. Domri Rade Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata Meghan Nature (no hyperlink, see: outside) (No, there’s a hyperlink - Matthew) Runner-Ups RJ  Fiction Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong RJ  Other Steven Universe Future (Wikipedia) Sohla El-Waylly / Stump Sohla Meghan  Fiction Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir The Subtweet by Vivek Shraya Self Care by Leigh Stein Dread Nation by Justina Ireland After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones  The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Immigrant City by David Bezmozgis  Meghan Non-fiction Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time by Jeff Speck The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O'Meara In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado Turning by Jessica J. Lee Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations by Mira Jacob Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Another Language by Katherine Russell Rich  Meghan  French Language Tom Thomson, esquisses du printemps by Sandrine Revel Les petites victoires by Yvon Roy Waves by Ingrid Chabbert Un soleil entre des planètes mortes by Anneli Furmak  Matthew Comics Emanon, vol. 1 by Shinji Kajio and Kenji Tsuruta  On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden Read online Super Fun Sexy Times by Meredith McClaren When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll Monstress, vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda (yes, I’m two volumes behind, the next volume is literally sitting on my shelf waiting to be read) Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, vol. 1 by Kagiji Kumanomata Steeple by John Allison (webcomic) Blade Runner 2019, vol. 1 by Michael Green, Mike Johnson, Andres Guinaldo (Illustrator) Le facteur de l'espace by Guillaume Perreault (in French! It’s not just Meghan who reads French language things now) Available in English as The Postman from Space Rock Mary Rock, vol. 1 by Nicky Soh Webcomic version Gardens of Glass by Lando Other Media We Mentioned You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Weirder Place by Janelle Shane Robots: The Recent A.I. edited by Rich Horton and Sean Wallace Pulgasari (Wikipedia) - North Korean giant monster movie I Blame the Patriarchy by Twisty Faster Links, Articles, and Things #LibFaves20 (library worker’s favourite books published in 2020) National Magazine Awards Winners 2020 AI Weirdness Overlay journal Our Twitch channel! 21 Books in Translation by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Authors Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here. Mama Hissa's Mice by Saud Alsanousi, translated by Sawad Hussain (Arabic) Mirror of the Darkest Night by Mahasweta Devi, translated by Shamya Dasgupta (Bengali) Invisible Planets: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese SF in Translation, edited and translated by Ken Liu (Chinese) Beijing Comrades by Bei Tong, translated by Scott E. Myers (Chinese) The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar, translated by Anonymous (Farsi) Ru by Kim Thúy, translated by Sheila Fischman (French) Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, translated by Roland Glasser (French) Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye, translated by John Fletcher (French) Last Night in Nuuk by Niviaq Korneliussen, translated by Anna Halager (Greenlandic/Danish) Beauty Is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan, translated by Annie Tucker (Indonesian) Beyond Babylon by Igiaba Scego, translated by Aaron Robertson (Italian) Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, translated by Jamie Chang (Korean) Your Republic is Calling You by Young-Ha Kim, translated by Chi-Young Kim (Korean) The Lonesome Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya, translated by Asa Yoneda (Japanese) Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur (Kannada) The Sun on My Head by Geovani Martins, translated by Julia Sanches (Portugese) Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki, translated by Stephen Henighan (Portugese) Time Commences in Xibalbá by Luis de Lión, translated by Nathan C. Henne (Spanish) La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono, translated by Lawrence Schimel (Spanish) Poonachi: Or the Story of a Black Goat by Perumal Murugan, translated by N. Kalyan Raman (Tamil) Doomi Golo: The Hidden Notebooks by Boubacar Boris Diop, translated by Vera Wülfing-Leckie and El Hadji Moustapha Diop (Wolof/French) Give us feedback! Fill out the form to ask for a recommendation or suggest a genre or title for us to read! Check out our Tumblr, follow us on Twitter or Instagram, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, January 5th we’ll be discussing the genre of Sociology! Then on Tuesday, January 19th we’ll be talking about our Reading Resolutions for 2021!

Fiction that can be read in one sitting, short stories are a great way book lovers can explore a wide range of narrative content. In this episode, Nisa and Sandra explore short stories that span genres such as sci-fi and crime, original languages such as Japanese and Chinese and settings as diverse as the fictional city of Maardam and the outer reaches of the galaxy. Books discussed include: Grand Union / Zadie Smith. Hamish Hamilton, Oct 2019 Picnic in the storm / Yukiko Motoya (translated by Asa Yoneda), Oct 2018 Intrigo / Håkan Nesser. Pan Macmillan, Oct 2019 Broken stars / Ken Liu (edited and translated). Head of Zeus, Feb 2019.    

Hiromi Ito, Tomoko Sawada, and Yukiko Motoya, look at women's roles in Japanese culture today plus the Japanese view of English-language literature with translator Motoyuki Shibata. Philip Dodd presents. Bethan Jones acted as the translator. Japan Now 2020 is a series of events taking place in Sheffield, Norwich and London organised by Modern Culture culminating in a day of events at the British Library on Saturday February 22nd. Hiromi Itō is one of the most prominent women writers in Japan who looks at sexuality motherhood and the body in her work which is translated by Jeffrey Angles. Yukiko Motoya’s first book in English, Picnic In The Storm, is a collection of short stories which include salary men being swept skywards by their umbrellas, to a married couple morphing into one another’s bodies. It was the winner of the Akutagawa Prize and the Kenzaburo Oe Prize. It is translated by Asa Yoneda Tomoko Sawada is a photographer and performance artist whose work explores gender roles and cultural stereotypes from a strongly feminist perspective. Translator Motoyuki Shibata, has introduced writers like Paul Auster, Richard Powers, Edward Gorey and Steven Millhauser to Japanese readers. You can find more programmes in the playlist Free Thinking explores Japanese culture https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0657spq Producer: Luke Mulhall

This week, Dahlia and Amy talk about Kurbo, a weight loss app for children. The app is from Weight Watchers and they claim its purpose is to help children become healthier but experts say that an app like Kurbo can cause children to have an unhealthy relationship with food, promote eating disorders, and cause extra stress. The app feels like a ploy to create future consumers for the $72 billion diet industry and it’s so wrong.    WATCH  “What We Do in the Shadows” (both the movie and the FX TV series) take a hilarious mockumentary lens to vampire living.    READ  Yukiko Motoya’s short story collection, “The Loneliest Bodybuilder” is quirky, surreal, and so much fun to read. A must-read for contemporary Japanese literature.    LISTEN “Skin & Bone” by Ambrosia Parsley

Brea and Mallory check another box on the 2019 Reading Glasses Challenge (pre orders/library requests) and talk to literary agent DongWon Song. Use the hashtag #ReadingGlassesPodcast to participate in online discussion! Email us at readingglassespodcast at gmail dot com! Reading Glasses Merch Sponsor - SquareSpace Promo Code - GLASSES for 10%   Links - Reading Glasses Facebook Group Reading Glasses Goodreads Group Amazon Wish List   Newsletter   San Diego Live Event 3-8-19   DongWon Song https://twitter.com/dongwon   Books Mentioned - Prism Stalker vol 1 by Sloane Leong Goldengrove by Francine Prose The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders Binti by Nnedi Okorafor The Test by Sylvain Neuvel Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore Snow White Learns Witchcraft by Theodora Goss The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West The Witch Elm by Tana French The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons The Lonesome Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya, Asa Yoneda (Translator) 

Sharifah and Jenn discuss adaptation news for Tasha Suri and Leigh Bardugo, voting in the Hugos, favorite weird SF/F, and more. This episode is sponsored by the Read Harder Journal, the Unusual Suspects Giveaway, and Golden State by Ben Winters. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, or via Apple Podcasts here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here. To get even more SF/F news and recs, sign up for our Swords and Spaceships newsletter!   News Netflix Orders ‘Shadow And Bone’ Series Based On Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse Novels Hugo nominations are open! Hugo site to become a voting member; Spreadsheet of Doom Empire of Sand has been optioned! Bandersnatch update: Netflix is getting sued by Chooseco   Books Discussed Shout-out: Jeff VanderMeer, China Mieville, and Lauren Beukes Lonesome Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya, transl. by Asa Yoneda (tw: bodyhorror) Long Division by Kiese Laymon (tw: family and racial violence, use of slurs) Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (tw: rape; child abuse; suicide) Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyan (tw: racial violence, gun violence, violence against children, self harm)

Amanda and Jenn discuss good “relationship reads,” Asian authors, classic retellings, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked. This episode is sponsored by the Read Harder Journal, But That’s Another Story podcast and Life, Death, and Cellos by Isabel Rogers. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.   Questions 1. Hi! So I’m a part of this book club and we are in need of a new book. All the members of our book club are recent college grads and have just entered adulthood. Most of us have just moved to a new city and are in the process of finding our place, launching our careers and figuring out what we want to do with our lives. Collectively we often feel a sense of ‘being lost’. There are so many options in this world and decisions we need to make and those choices can be overwhelming. We would love to read a book that resonates with the struggles, excitement and growing pains of the season we are currently experiencing. We also would love to read something that can serve as a source of hope for us-hope that we will figure out how to approach this season and who we want to be in this world. Also, we prefer to read novels. Thank you so much! –Emily   2. Hi! In the last month, I have been reading If We Had Known by Elise Juska, Vox by Christina Dalcher, The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang, and Red Clocks by Leni Zumas. I didn’t set out to read books surrounding heavy and/or politically-charged issues, and I generally wouldn’t characterize my reading life as trigger warning heavy. However, I really enjoyed reading these books that aren’t strictly reality but are still very real and can help me think through real and pressing issues. Can you recommend more novels like these? Please no white male authors because its 2019 and I’m tired of hearing men talk—thanks! –Tally   3. I’m looking for a book I can listen to on audio with my husband. We have listened to A Walk in the Woods, Ender’s Game, the King Killer Chronicles, The Expanse series etc. He is a history buff who loves fantasy, classic adventure literature (like the Count of Monte Christo) and long history books like The history of Salt, Heart of the Sea, McCullogh presidential biographies etc. I am an ex-English major. Recently on audiobook I have enjoyed Spinning Silver, A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, My Lady Jane, Becoming by Michelle Obama and The Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah. I love your weekly recs! Thanks in advance. –Sarah   4. Hello, book friends! And help! I just finished a reread of Kristin Cashore’s trilogy (Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue) and now I’m flailing around at just how great they are, and how I’ve never read anything that feels quite like them. I love how the characters take care of each other. I love the characters! They’re very likeable people, and I also love how practical they are. I like how these books are books with romance in them rather than books about romance. Same for the magic–it’s mostly very low key, but is still unique and interesting. I am so desperate to find other books that feel the same way these do! They don’t have to be YA, though I would prefer sticking to secondary fantasy worlds. Extra super special brownie points if the main character is queer! THANK YOU! –A   5. Hi Jenn and Amanda, Thank you for this amazing podcast and all the recommendations that you make. One of my main reading goals this year is to continue reading more diversely and as part of that I want to read fewer American authors. American authors always end up making a big chunk of my reading and I am trying to change that to broaden my perspective. So, could you please recommend any books by Asian female authors? No Asian-American ones as I feel that would still be cheating. I have read the more popular authors like Arundhati Roy, Han Kang, Celeste Ng, Mira Jacob, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kamila Shamsie etc. I read all kinds of genres, fiction or non-fiction, and would love to hear your recommendations. Thanks a lot! –Nikhila   6. Hi, looking for some books I could give my sister. She reads mostly fiction, mixing classics and modern picks. Some favourites of hers include Pride & Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, His Dark Materials, The Book Thief, The Last Runaways. This year she loved Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver and Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries. I gave her Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites and she really liked it but found it hard because of how sad it is. I keep thinking of and giving her books I think she will love but they are often pretty bleak, and she would love some less depressing books to throw in the mix (I gave her Ferrante, her best friend gave her A Little Life, she will need something in between) They don’t have to be all light and fluffy but at least a happy ending would be great. Thank you! I love the show, you have made my tbr almost impossible, which is the best problem to have.   7. I’m looking for a fun book to listen to on audio with my husband on a roadtrip. The problem is that we have quite different interests–I love literary fiction and popular fiction: Crazy Rich Asians, Outlander, The Goldfinch, The Marrying of Chani Kaufman. He mostly reads nonfiction–Stephen Pinker, books on objectivism, and comparative religions. Some books we’ve listened to together and liked are The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Shroud for a Nightingale by P.D. James, and The Martian by Andy Weir. I know this is kind of a tough one, so thanks in advance! You guys are awesome. –Aaryn   Books Discussed Upstream by Mary Oliver Becoming by Michelle Obama Startup by Doree Shafrir (rec’d by Rebecca) Chemistry by Weike Wang (tw: family emotional abuse) Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez How Long Til Black Future Month by NK Jemisin The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (tw: rape, gendered violence) On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee (narrated by BD Wong) The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner Witchmark by CL Polk The Good Women of China by Xinran, trans. By Esther Tyldesley The Lonesome Bodybuilder by Yukiko Motoya, translated by Asa Yoneda (tw: body horror) Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye Pride by Ibi Zoboi Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies

Velkommen til den aller første episoden! I denne episoden blir vi kjent med Nora, Tine og Linda som lesere. Hovedbøker: Ut og stjæle hester av Per Petterson (L - Linda) Harehjerte av Ingrid Melfald Hafredal (N - Nora) Pride and prejudice av Jane Austen (T - Tine) The Dark Tower : The Gunslinger av Stephen King (T) 1Q84 av Haruki Murakami (N) Unnskyld av Ida Hegazi Høyer (L) Nattens joker, Løgnernes paradis og Siste tog øst Frank Tandberg (L) The flower shop av Sally Page (L) Nattens sirkus av Erin Morgenstern (T) Sofies verden av Jostein Gaarder (N) Bøker som blir nevnt: Til Sibir av Per Petterson (L) Fortellerkunst av Henrik H. Langeland (L) Oppløsningstendenser og Nei og atter nei av Nina Lykke (L) Åpenbart ingen nabo av Joakim Kjørsvik (L) Kan jeg bli med deg hjem av Marie Aubert (L) Kristin Lavransdatter av Sigrid Undset (L) Stoner av John Williams (L) Du dør ikke av Linn Strømsborg (N) Jo fortere jeg går jo mindre er jeg av Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold (N) Trekkoppfuglen av Haruki Murakami (L) Elefanten som forsvant av Haruki Murakami (N) Kunsten å bli glad i seg selv av Yukiko Motoya "Japansk, ung, ny forfatter" (N) Merkelig vær i Tokyo av Haruki Kawakami (N) Jeg er pilgrim av Terry Heyer (L) Menn ingen treng av Frode Grytten (L) Farvel til Eddy Belleguele av Edourad Louis (L) Cash, Aldri fucke opp og Livet deluxe av Jens Lapidus (N) Torget av Victoria Durnak (N) — Noe på hjertet? Send mail til bokstabelen@gmail.com bokstabelen.com facebook.com/bokstabelen Instagram: @bokstabelen

Granta celebrate the launch of Granta 127: Japan, with an event at Free Word Centre. Contributors Hiromi Kawakami and Yukiko Motoya come all the way from Japan to discuss their work and introduce you to their country. In ‘Blue Moon’, Hiromi Kawakami reflects on mortality and the limits of translation, while in ‘The Dogs’, Yukiko Motoya depicts a loner living with a mysterious pack of dogs in an icy mountain cabin. Listen to these writers and the Granta team discuss Japan and the illusory, ambiguous, and contradictory nature of a country.

Yukiko Motoya is a novelist, playwright and stage director. She leads her own theatre company, Gekidan Motoya Yukiko, which she founded in 2000. Her story collection Arashi no pikunikku (The Devil's Picnic) was awarded the Kenzaburō Ōe Prize in 2013. Here, she talks to Elmer Luke about her short story for Granta 127: Japan, finding freedom in writing and happy endings, with interpretation by Asa Yoneda. ‘I’d get convinced that I had to write about really big, serious, important issues. So in order to get beyond that stage where I was really feeling the pressure of the feeling of wanting to write, I spent maybe one or two months just writing down everything that came to mind – little snippets – until there was nothing more to come out of me. I think actually it took about three months to get to that stage. And then what came out after that – once I had no more words flowing out of me – is what turned into these stories.’ Photograph by Ryoko Uyama