Lit&Lunch: Translator Stephen Snyder

With leading writers like Haruki Murakami and Banana Yoshimoto racking up huge sales around the world, Japanese literature remains a force to be reckoned with. In this Lit&Lunch, leading Japanese translator Stephen Snyder discusses his work with two prominent Japanese writers whose work should be on every international literature lover’s shelf.

First, Snyder talks about translating the surreal Japanese novelist Yoko Ogawa, who BookForum has raved “delights in tipping her characters over to reveal the consequences of their indulgence and to expose the reader’s enjoyment of their wickedness.” This leading contemporary novelist has published 20 books in Japan, and Snyder has published three of them in English translation, seeing his work published in The New Yorker.

Snyder also discusses his work with Nobel Prize recipient Kenzaburo Oe, who continues his 40 year quest for the Japanese postwar identity and has engaged in high-profile arguments with Haruki Murakami.