Nobel laureate JM Coetzee and Pulitzer prize winner Junot Díaz are among the big-name authors due to take part in the inaugural Tokyo International Literary Festival, a weekend of bookwormish bliss that hits the capital this March. Reservations are now being taken for the festival's various events, ranging from a pair of star-studded group sessions at Waseda University to an intimate date with Granta editor John Freeman and cultural commentator Hiroki Azuma at Gotanda's Genron Café. Better yet, all of the events are free (though you'll need to buy a drink at a few of the venues).
March 1, 1pm-4pm, University of Tokyo
Junot Díaz, Mieko Kawakami, Nicole Krauss, Koji Toko, Risa Wataya, etc.
March 1, 7pm-9pm, Roppongi Art College
JM Coetzee, Jonathan Safran Foer, Natsuki Ikezawa, David Peace, Motoyuki Shibata, Shuntaro Tanikawa, etc.
March 2, 10.30am-noon, Rainy Day Bookstore & Café
Chip Kidd, Lexy Bloom, etc.
March 2, 11am-12.30pm, Genron Café
Hiroki Azuma, John Freeman, Makoto Ichikawa, etc.
March 2, 1pm, International House of Japan
Michael Emmerich, Pico Iyer, Mitsuyo Kakuta, Masashi Matsuie, Masatsugu Ono, Motoyuki Shibata, etc.
March 2, 6pm, SuperDeluxe
Geoff Dyer, Hideo Furukawa, Keiichiro Hirano, Keitaney Kojima, Masashi Matsuie, Motoyuki Shibata, Keijiro Suga, etc.
March 3, 1pm-2pm, Arakawa Line
Shinji Ishii, etc.
March 3, 1pm-3.45pm, Waseda University
Junot Díaz, Jonathan Safran Foer, Hideo Furukawa, Shinji Ishii, Makoto Ichikawa, Chip Kidd, David Peace, Deborah Treisman, etc.
March 3, 4pm-6pm, Waseda University
JM Coetzee, John Freeman, Makoto Ichikawa, Natsuki Ikezawa, David Karashima, Yukiko Konosu, Nicole Krauss, etc.