The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, in cooperation with Tre Publishing House, share the delight of hosting a conference with Masatsugu Ono, one of the promising young writers in Japan, on his award winning novella “The Song of Mermaid”, which has been published in Vietnamese from Tre Publishing House in early February 2012.
Equipped with Ph. D in Literature at the University of Paris VIII, Mr. Masatsugu Ono has been actively working on literature, ranging from creations of novels, translations of foreign literatures, to literary critics and lectures at public spaces.
In March 2011, he conducted his first travelling seminars on contemporary Japanese literature in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, and enjoyed stimulating conversations with Vietnamese writers/critics as well as with enthusiastic scholars and students.
One of Ono’s interesting comments at the time was:
“Haruki Murakami writes stories in the context of globalization and it attracts a plethora of youth in the world. But in fact in Japan, there still exist local areas surrounded by pre-modern atmosphere and environment, where only elders are living. In this aging society, I prefer, or I can say I feel comfortable, to write stories on elders and locals, adding humorous tastes by my own way”.
The essences of such Ono’s literary attempts are flourished in “The Song of Mermaid” and the Mishima Yukio Prize awarded novella “The Ship Piggybacked by Jolly Bay” (this story is also included in the Vietnamese edition of “The Song of Mermaid”).
The talks with Mr. Masatsugu Ono will be held from 9am on Wednesday 22 February at Trung Nguyen Cafeteria (36 Dien Bien Phu) in Hanoi and from 9am on Thursday 23 February at Hoa Sen University (93 Cao Thang, District 3) in Ho Chi Minh City. It starts from Ono’s introduction and thoughts on writing, followed by conversations with public intellectuals, Mr. Nguyen Qui Duc in Hanoi, and Mr. Le Hong Lam in Ho Chi Minh City. Literature fans can also enjoy 30% discount of purchasing Ono’s new book, and will have a chance to get his signature on the purchased book at the end of the talk.
Organized by
Tre Publishing House
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam
Admission: Free
[Hanoi]
Registration:
08:30 – 09:00
Time:
09:00 – 11:30, Wednesday 22 February 2012
◆Talk on his work by Masatsugu Ono
◆Conversation with Mr. Nguyen Quy Duc
◆Q & A session, signature session
Venue:
Trung Nguyen Cafeteria
36 Dien Bien Phu, Hanoi
[Ho Chi Minh City]
Registration:
08:30 – 09:00
Time:
09:00 – 11:30, Thursday 23 February 2012
◆Talk on his work by Masatsugu Ono
◆Conversation with Mr. Nguyen Quy Duc
◆Q & A session, signature session
Venue:
Main Hall, Hoa Sen University
93 Cao Thang, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City
■ Writer’s biography
Masatsugu Ono
Born in 1970. Writer, translator, lecturer on French literature & French at the Faculty of Letters, Meiji Gakuin University. Graduated from College of Arts and Science, the University of Tokyo. Ph. D in Literature at the University of Paris VIII.
Selected Works:
– “Mizu ni Umoreru Haka” [lit. “Graves Buried in Water”] (2001)
*Won the Asahi New Writer’s Award
– “Nigiyaka na Wan ni Seowareta Fune”
[lit. “The Ship Piggybacked by the Jolly Bay”] (2002)
*Won the Mishima Yukio Prize
– “Mori no Hazure de” [lit. “At the Outskirts of the Woods”] (2006)
– “Maikuro Basu” [lit. “Micro Bus”] (2008)
– “Yoru Yorimo Ookii” [lit. “Bigger Than the Nights”] (2010)
Selected Translations:
– V.S. Naipaul, “Miguel Street”
(As the co-translator with Shizen Ozawa)
– Édouard Glissant, “Introduction à une poétique du divers”
– Paul Nizan, “Aden, Arabie”
– Marie NDiaye, “Rosie Carpe”
For more information please contact at:
Ms. Nha (098-293-9314) / Ms. Da Huong (0165-230-3890) / Mr. Yoshioka (0123-384-4138)
The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam
27 Quang Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, Vietnam | TEL 04-3944-7419 | www.jpf.org.vn
