01/10/2026
This has been a great year for welcoming brilliant Japanese writers to the city. Following on from our events with Mieko Kawakami and Asako Yuzuki earlier in the year, we're equally excited for Akane Araki and Nao-Cola Yamazaki to talk about their new novels!
One of Japan's most exciting young crime writers, Akane Araki explores her prize-winning debut, Murder at the End of the World - a wildly original, darkly funny murder mystery set in the final days before an asteroid strikes Earth.
Hear about the inspiration behind Akane’s wildly original premise, challenging the boundaries of genre and the Japanese crime writers that inspire her.
🗓️ 2pm, Sat 10 Oct
📍 Waterstones Deansgate
🎟️ https://manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/akane-araki
Acclaimed Japanese author Nao-Cola Yamazaki joins us for a conversation about Beautiful Distance, their profoundly moving and bestselling novel exploring love, loss and the quiet moments that shape a life.
Tender, intimate and deeply humane, the novel follows a man preparing to visit his terminally ill wife in hospital, reflecting on family, memory and the small acts of care that endure in the face of mortality.
Drawing on both Beautiful Distance and their celebrated novel Don’t Laugh At Other People’s S*x Lives, Nao-Cola will discuss their approach to writing love stories in all their complexity, from first love to loss and grief.
🗓️ 6.30pm, Mon 19 Oct
📍 Waterstones Deansgate
🎟️ https://manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/nao-cola-yamazaki
