Murakami to receive Jerusalem Prize from book fest

February 15, 2009 - 2:36 PM by David · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Politics

Haruki Murakami

The 24th Jerusalem International Book Fair is taking place this week, and Japan’s top writer Haruki Murakami was scheduled to be the guest of honor.

President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat are to present Muakami with the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society at the opening of the five-day festival at the International Convention Center. The festival is expected to draw over 1,200 publishers from more that 40 countries displaying some 100,000 books in different languages, organizers said. Entrance to the public is free.

The 60-year-old Murakami is the author of 20 books translated into 40 languages, including Hear the Wind Sing, Norwegian Wood, A Wild Sheep Chase, All God’s Children Can Dance and Kafka on the Shore. The English publication of his latest novel, After Dark, was released in 2007, and chosen by The New York Times as “Notable Book of the Year.” Besides writing, Murakami has made a name for himself as a keen marathon runner, which he addresses in his 2008 book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

However, as with most international recognitions like this, there’s some controversy. According to The Jerusalem Post, the Palestine Forum Japan urged the writer to cancel his plans to accept the prize in Jerusalem.

In an open letter last week to Murakami, titled “Don’t legitimize apartheid,” the group wrote: “We ask you to seriously reconsider the social and political significance of a world-famous author such as yourself participating in the book fair, which is fully supported by the Foreign Ministry of Israel and the City of Jerusalem,” the letter states. “We would humbly ask you to consider the effects your receipt of the ‘Jerusalem Prize’ would have, what sort of message the world would receive in this Middle East situation, what kind of propaganda value it could have to Israel and the possibility of aggravating the critical situation Palestinians are facing.”

This is the first time the Jerusalem Prize has been awarded to a writer in a non-European language, and the prize committee said the decision to honor Murakami was “made out of profound esteem for his artistic achievements and love of people.”

Previous recipients of the Jerusalem Prize at the book fair, which started in 1963, include Susan Sontag, Simone de Beauvoir, Milan Kundera, Graham Greene, J.M. Coetzee, V.S. Naipaul, Bertrand Russell, Octavio Paz and Arthur Miller.

Here’s hoping Murakami doesn’t back down and that the awards ceremony goes off as planned.

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