A Talk with Masatsugu Ono on “The Song of Mermaid”

HANOI: Wed 22 Feb2012, 9 – 11.30 am Trung Nguyen Cafeteria

HCMC: Thu 23 Feb2012, 9 – 11.30 am Main Hall, Hoa Sen University

From Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam: The Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, in cooperation with Tre Publishing House, share the delight of hosting a conference with Masatsugu Ono, one of the promising young writers in Japan, on his award winning novella “The Song of Mermaid”, which has been published in Vietnamese from Tre Publishing House in early February 2012.

Equipped with Ph. D in Literature at the University of Paris VIII, Mr. Masatsugu Ono has been actively working on literature, ranging from creations of novels, translations of foreign literatures, to literary critics and lectures at public spaces. In March 2011, he conducted his first travelling seminars on contemporary Japanese literature in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City, and enjoyed stimulating conversations with Vietnamese writers/critics as well as with enthusiastic scholars and students. One of Ono’s interesting comments at the time was: “Haruki Murakami writes stories in the context of globalization and it attracts a plethora of youth in the world. But in fact in Japan, there still exist local areas surrounded by pre-modern atmosphere and environment, where only elders are living. In this aging society, I prefer, or I can say I feel comfortable, to write stories on elders and locals, adding humorous tastes by my own way”. The essences of such Ono’s literary attempts are flourished in “The Song of Mermaid” and the Mishima Yukio Prize awarded novella “The Ship Piggybacked by Jolly Bay” (this story is also included in the Vietnamese edition of “The Song of Mermaid”).

The talks with Mr. Masatsugu Ono will be held from 9am on Wednesday 22 February at Trung Nguyen Cafeteria (36 Dien Bien Phu) in Hanoi and from 9am on Thursday 23 February at Hoa Sen University (93 Cao Thang, District 3) in Ho Chi Minh City. It starts from Ono’s introduction and thoughts on writing, followed by conversations with public intellectuals, Mr. Nguyen Qui Duc in Hanoi, and Mr. Le Hong Lam in Ho Chi Minh City. Literature fans can also enjoy 30% discount of purchasing Ono’s new book, and will have a chance to get his signature on the purchased book at the end of the talk. About Masatsugu Ono Born in 1970. Writer, translator, lecturer on French literature & French at the Faculty of Letters, Meiji Gakuin University. Graduated from College of Arts and Science, the University of Tokyo. Ph. D in Literature at the University of Paris VIII. Free admission.