2021 Akutagawa Prize winner Mai Ishizawa is based in Germany. In the interview, she talks about the influence of the German language on her writing and how in her literary works memories from Japan mingle with her experiences in Germany.
Polish poet Krystyna Dąbrowska is the EU fellow in this year’s Kyoto Writer’s Residency; Yasuhiro Yotsumoto is a Japanese poet, who has been living in Europe for long years and who has developed a broad and vivid creative network with poets from all over the world.
In the European Literature Festival 2024, they will appear together in an event, in which they will read from their poetry and talk the potential of poetry in our current times.
Prior to the event, they shared their views about the “Haiku Spirit” and their approaches to writing poetry today.
Yuki Nagae is a poet who explores the possibilities of expanding the realm of poetry to the physical and virtual space. She was influenced by the Lithuanian poet and filmmaker Jonas Mekas and maintains strong ties with the Lithuanian literary scene.
Milena-Michiko Flašar is an Austrian-Japanese author, who writes about Japanese social phenomenona, such as hikkikomori or kodokushi in German language. In the interview, she traces her life between the two cultures from her childhood days to the present.
