Author Rie Qudan, Winner of the 170th Akutagawa Prize

Vietnamese Edition Book Launch Event for “Sympathy Tower Tokyo”

In Hanoi

1. Book Launch & Conversation with Rie Qudan

2. Conversation between Rie Qudan and Maik Cây: Creating Worlds Through Language

In Ho Chi Minh City

Book Launch & Conversation with Rie Qudan

Words Shape the World. Book Launch & Conversation with Rie Qudan

To celebrate the publication of the Vietnamese edition of Sympathy Tower Tokyo, The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam and San Ho Books are pleased to invite author Rie Qudan to Vietnam for a series of book launch events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Rie Qudan, the author who won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize, is highly regarded for her distinctive narrative rhythm and sharp social insight. Beneath the calm surface of her prose lies a subtle tension; from seemingly ordinary details, she draws out profound solitude and layered emotions. The worlds she constructs resonate deeply with contemporary readers, offering both recognition and discovery. Though still early in her career, she has already emerged as a remarkable voice shaping new horizons for Japanese literature.

“Sympathy Tower Tokyo” is a delicate, incisive portrait of life in Tokyo, where private emotions intersect with the fractures of society. Exploring the distances between people, the unconscious boundaries created in human interactions, and the possibilities of empathy, the novel quietly excavates the fluctuations of the human heart, leaving a lingering aftertaste. The release of the Vietnamese edition brings the atmosphere and social realities of Tokyo to a different cultural context, offering readers a new interpretive experience through which they may reflect upon their own lives.

During her stay in Vietnam, Rie Qudan will take part in a diverse program of events. At the book launch, she will speak about the genesis of the novel, her approach to language, and her experimentation with generative AI in parts of the work. The event also provides a rare chance for readers to engage directly with the author and exchange perspectives across cultures.

In addition, a conversation between Rie Qudan and Vietnamese author Maik Cây will explore core questions of literary creativity: how writers from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds observe the world, perceive social change, consider the extent to which language can represent reality, and understand the relationship between author and reader. This conversation promises to delve into the very heart of the creative process.

Furthermore, exchange sessions with students will be held at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with participation from students of Japanese Studies and Japanese language programs. Hearing directly from Rie Qudan will offer students valuable insights into nuances of the Japanese language and a deeper understanding of contemporary Japanese society, knowledge that goes beyond any textbook.

The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam and San Ho Books envision this series of events as a meeting point where the literatures of both countries intersect, where readers and writers, cultures and perspectives come together. We hope that Rie Qudan’s work and her voice will bring Vietnamese readers fresh ways of seeing and the joy of creative discovery.

■ For inquiries on the event and author interview, please contact at:

Ms. Anh 024-3944-7419 (ext. 136) / Mr. Osuka (076-606-0858)

The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam

27 Quang Trung, Cua Nam Ward, Hanoi, Vietnam                                  TEL: 024-3944-7419

https://www.facebook.com/japanfoundation.vietnam/                             https://hn.jpf.go.jp/

■ Credit:

Organizer: The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, San Hô Books

Sponsor: Amanaki Thao Dien, NÚC concept Kitchen & Bar

■ Speaker information

Rie Qudan

Writer

Born in Saitama in 1990. In 2021, she made her debut by winning the 126th Bungei Prize for New Writers with “Bad Music”. Her work “Schoolgirl”, published the same year, was nominated for both the 166th Akutagawa Prize and the 35th Mishima Yukio Prize. In March 2023, she received the 73rd New Artist Award of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology for the same work, and in November, she won the 45th Noma Literary New Face Prize for “Shi o Kaku Uma”. In January 2024, she was awarded the 170th Akutagawa Prize for “Sympathy Tower Tokyo”.

Maik Cây

Writer, Filmmaker

Maik Cây is one of the most notable voices of Vietnam’s emerging literary generation and also works as an independent filmmaker. She first drew significant public attention in 2018 when she won Second Prize (no First Prize) at the 6th “Văn học tuổi 20” (Literature for Youth) Awards, a prestigious launching platform for young writers. Her standout work “Wittgenstein of the Black Heaven”, blends philosophical reflection with a bold narrative structure, showcasing her distinctive creativity and powerful expressive range. Alongside her literary endeavors, Maik Cây pursues independent film projects that explore themes of identity, imagination, and the shifting boundary between external reality and the inner world.

Quyên Nguyễn

Literary critic, translator

Quyen Nguyễn is the co-founder and Chief Editor of Zzz Review, an independent non-profit online literary review based in Vietnam, with solid reputation as a trustworthy platform for up-to-date, informed and thoughtful perspectives about national and world literature for the globally-minded Vietnamese reader. She holds a Phd in English literature from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore with a dissertation on James Joyce. Her research interests include Modernism, Translation Studies, and Contemporary Vietnamese Literature. Her research works have been published by Palgrave Macmillan, and her criticism appears on Literature Korean Now, COLORSxSTUDIOS. She writes for various Vietnamese journals and magazines. Nguyen is also an English-Vietnamese translator with more than 16 years of experience; her published translations include “What we talk about when we talk about love” by Raymond Carver (co-translated), “Atonement” by Ian McEwan, “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides. Her edited anthology of Contemporary Vietnamese Literature in English translation is forthcoming.

Đào Lê Na

Head of Department Art Studies, Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City

Research papers, works:

・“Screenwriting Techniques” (2020)

・“Contemporary Japanese and Vietnamese Cinema: Cultural Exchanges and Influences” (2019, chief editor)

・“The Horizon of Pictures: From Literature to Film through the Case of Kurosawa Akira” (2017)

・Novel “The Narrative of Raindrops” (2019)

・Article “From darkness to illumination: Japanese philosophical perspectives on guilt and awakening in Akira Kurosawa’s short films” (2025)

・Article “Queer aesthetics and Confucian legacy in On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and Goodbye Mother” (2025)

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