Two authors from different corners of the globe share a literary eye for vulnerable, gentle characters in a hostile world. 

Mieko Kawakami and Rónán Hession excel in portraying quiet individuals who are almost invisible at the centre of their own lives. Mieko’s latest work, All the Lovers in the Night, is as much about the problems of modern society in Japan as it is about the intense joys and terrors of womanhood the world over. Rónán’s long-awaited second novel, Panenka develops the warm yet uncompromising voice he is known for in the story of Joseph, a middle-aged man attempting to save his own life.

Originally from Osaka, Mieko Kawakami has just been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, for her 2021 novel Heaven. Rónán Hession is a Dublin-based writer and musician. His debut novel, Leonard and Hungry Paul was selected as the One Dublin One Book title in 2021. 

The authors will discuss their novels with chair, Martin Colthorpe, Programmer at the International Literature Festival Dublin.

‘Kawakami never evangelizes, never wags a finger. . . This is the real magic of Heaven, which shows us how to think about morality as an ongoing, dramatic activity.’ Merve Emre, New Yorker