Japan-Canada Literary Dialogue

Fuminori Nakamura & Vicki Delany in conversation

Join us for an intimate evening of literary conversation, featuring Japanese author Fuminori Nakamura and Canadian author Vicki Delany, both renowned for their crime writing. In this talk, the authors will examine topics such as the opportunities and challenges inherent in writing for diverse audiences, the genre of crime writing and what we can learn about ourselves through this style of literature. Each will bring their unique perspective and experiences to the discussion and, together, we will gain an insight into the thoughts of two leading minds in both the Japanese and Canadian literary scenes.

Audience members will have a chance to meet both authors at the pre-event book signing and the event will be followed by a Q & A session. The evening will be moderated by Professor Livia Monnet (University of Montreal and former Japan Foundation Fellow).

Fuminori Nakamura was born in 1977 and graduated from Fukushima University in 2000. He has won numerous prizes for his writing, including the Oe Prize, Japan’s largest literary award, and the prestigious Akutagawa Prize. The Thief, his first novel to be translated into English, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He is the recipient of the David L. Goodis Award for Noir Fiction. He lives in Tokyo with his wife.

Vicki Delany is the author of 14 novels and two novellas, and is one of Canada’s most varied crime writers.  Her novels of psychological suspense, including Burden of Memory and More than Sorrow, intertwine the stories of Canadian women facing the challenges of the past and of today.  She also writes the popular Constable Molly Smith series and the light-hearted Klondike Gold Rush books.  Her Rapid Reads book, A Winter Kill, was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for best novella. Having taken early retirement from her job as a systems analyst, Vicki enjoys the rural life in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario.  She is the current president of Crime Writers of Canada.

Prof. Livia Monnet

Livia Monnet is Professor of Comparative Literature, Film and Japanese Studies at the University of Montreal, Canada. She is the author of Ishimure Michiko, Paradise in the Sea of Sorrow: Our Minamata Disease (2003), and Critical Approaches to Twentieth Century Japanese Thought (2001). She has also edited several essay volumes and journal anthologies. Her publications appear in Mechademia, Japan Forum, Études germaniques, Science Fiction Studies, and other peer-reviewed journals, as well as in various anthologies. She is currently completing two book manuscripts: one on emergence in contemporary media installations: and a study of science and embodiment in contemporary screendance.