Book Break : Mieko Kawakami (川上未映子), author of "Breasts and Eggs (夏物語)"

Thursday, November 05, 2020, 18:15 - 20:30

20201105Bb Breasts and Eggs book cover replace     
0201106BB Mieko Kawakami with credit YUTO KUDO Madame Figaro Japon
20201105Bb Breasts and Eggs book cover

Mieko Kawakami
©YUTO KUDO:Madame Figaro Japon

Mieko Kawakami, a writer hailed by Haruki Murak08ami as Japan's most important contemporary novelist, will speak about "Breasts and Eggs"--her first novel now published in English. In the book, she paints a radical and intimate portrait of contemporary womanhood in Japan and recounts the intimate journeys of three women as they confront the oppressive social gender mores and their own uncertainties to find peace and futures they can truly call their own.

Makiko, the oldest in the story, has traveled to Tokyo in search of an affordable breast enhancement procedure. She is accompanied by Midoriko, her daughter who has recently grown silent, unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with growing up. Her silence proves a catalyst for each woman to confront her fears and frustrations. Ten years later, Natsu, Makiko's younger sister, returns to her native city while struggling with her own indeterminate identity as she confronts anxieties about growing old alone and childless.

Born in Osaka prefecture, Ms. Kawakami, a winner of the Akutagawa Prize (芥川賞), made her literary debut as a poet in 2006. Her first novella My Ego, My Teeth, and the World, published in 2007, was awarded the Tsubouchi Shoyo Prize for Young Emerging Writers. The following year, Kawakami published Breasts and Eggs as a novella. In 2016, she was selected as Granta Best of Young Japanese Novelist. Kawakami is also the author of the novels Heaven, The Night Belongs to Lovers, and the newly expanded Breasts and Eggs. She lives in Tokyo.

There will be a cocktail party - "Meet the Author - starting at 6:15 pm, followed by a set dinner with one drink at 6:40 pm (Menu: Small Green Salad /Braised Sole with Vegetables /Bread/Dessert/ Coffee or Tea with ONE DRINK (one from orange juice/ Oolong Tea/ white wine/ red wine). Drinks are also available on a cash basis in the room. Book Break charges are 3,100 yen/ 4,100 yen (members/ non-members) per person. The member price is applicable to members’ guests.

To FCCJ members: Sign up now at the reception desk (03-3211-3161) or on the FCCJ website. To help us plan proper seating and food preparation, please reserve in advance, by noon of the day. Reservations cancelled less than 72 hours in advance will be charged in full.

To non-members: Sign up now at the reception desk by email (front@fccj.or.jp). Payment is in advance by Friday, October 30th, 2020. No refund is available unless the event is cancelled by FCCJ.

Attendees with food restriction should inform the reception desk three days before the event.

We kindly ask for your cooperation with Covid-19 prevention measures to have your temperature taken and wear your own mask whenever possible. Thank you.

(The talk will be in Japanese with English interpretation. No photography, no filming, and no audio-recording are allowed.)