reading: Snakes and Earrings December 13, 2006

Snakes and Earrings: A Reading with Hitomi Kanehara

A reading of the 2004 Akutagawa Prize-winning novel Hebi ni Piasu will be given. The novel was translated into English as Snakes and Earrings in 2005, and passages will be read in both Japanese and English. A Q&A session with Ms. Kanehara will follow the reading.

About Hitomi Kanehara:

Hitomi Kanehara was born in Tokyo on August 8, 1983. She stopped attending school at the age of eleven. After she left home as a teenager, she sent her stories to her literary translator father by e-mail, and he helped her edit them. At the age of 21, she wrote Snakes and Earrings, which won the 2004 Akutagawa Prize, a prestigious Japanese literary award. One of the judges, the celebrated writer Ryu Murakami, said her book was ‘easily the top choice, receiving the highest marks of any work since I became a member of the selection panel.’ The Japanese edition of Snakes and Earrings has sold over a million copies, topping all the bestseller lists. Her other books include Ash Baby, Amebic, and her latest work Autofiction.

Time: 6:00 – 7:30
Location: 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University (116th Street & Amsterdam)

Map: http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/map/kent.html

FREE