The Tokyo International Literary Festival runs 1 to 3 March, and in The Japan Times Sandra Barron previews it, in Tokyo literary festival writes its opening chapter.
Should be pretty good -- not least because J.M.Coetzee will be in attendance. (I remain curious exactly how frequently he has to make public appearances until people finally acknowledge his "taciturn reputation" is entirely undeserved; my only explanation for the continued insistence on applying that and similar labels is that Salman Rushdie (who is ... how shall one put it politely ? not publicity shy ....) has become the measure of all men of letters.)
I do worry a bit that その場小説 -- sonoba shōsetsu -- will catch on; I think that's an idea that sounds fun ... once, and that's about it. (Google Translate gets this just right, by the way, translating the term as: "novel in situ".)
Should be pretty good -- not least because J.M.Coetzee will be in attendance. (I remain curious exactly how frequently he has to make public appearances until people finally acknowledge his "taciturn reputation" is entirely undeserved; my only explanation for the continued insistence on applying that and similar labels is that Salman Rushdie (who is ... how shall one put it politely ? not publicity shy ....) has become the measure of all men of letters.)
I do worry a bit that その場小説 -- sonoba shōsetsu -- will catch on; I think that's an idea that sounds fun ... once, and that's about it. (Google Translate gets this just right, by the way, translating the term as: "novel in situ".)