Translators and authors will gather at Japan Society for special discussion on May 7
Who: Jay Rubin, Ted Goossen, Aoko Matsuda, Satoshi Kitamura, Motoyuki Shibata, and Roland Kelts
What: Lecture, discussion, and reception
Where: Japan Society, 333 East 47th St. at First Ave., 212-715-1258
When: Thursday, May 7, $12, 6:30
Why: Haruki Murakami is one of the world’s greatest living writers, but he couldn’t have reached that level without working with outstanding translators. That critical literary art form is explored in this Japan Society program, featuring Jay Rubin, who has translated such Murakami books as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, Norwegian Wood, and 1Q84, and Ted Goossen, who translated The Strange Library and this summer’s Wind/Pinball: Two Early Novels, the long-awaited official English-language publications of Murakami’s Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973. Goossen will also talk about his debut novel, The Sun Gods. Joining Rubin and Goossen will be authors Aoko Matsuda and Satoshi Kitamura and Murakami translating partner Motoyuki Shibata, with Monkey Business coeditor Roland Kelts serving as narrator. The literary evening, which will conclude with a reception, is part of a Monkey Business tour that will also be stopping off at BookCourt on May 3, Asia Society on May 4, and McNally Jackson on May 7; the latest edition of Monkey Business features a new essay by Murakami. Murakami fans might also want to check out Ninagawa Company’s theatrical production of Kafka on the Shore, which comes to the Lincoln Center Festival July 23-26.