Book signing with Aoko Matsuda from 6:00-6:30pm. Copies of Where the Wild Ladies Are will be made available for purchase.  

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Aoko Matsuda represents a significant, award-winning voice in contemporary Japanese literature, distinguished by her incisive social commentary and innovative narrative techniques that interrogate gender politics and cultural conventions in Japanese society.

In 2013, Matsuda published her first collection of short stories titled Stackable (『スタッキング可能』), which was nominated for both the Mishima Yukio Prize and the Noma Literary New Face Prize. In 2021, the English translation of her short story collection Where the Wild Ladies Are (『おばちゃんたちのいるところ』, 2020, Soft Skull Press, tr. Polly Barton) received the World Fantasy Award for Best Collection from the World Fantasy Convention, as well as the Firecracker Award in fiction from the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. This collection was also named by TIME Magazine and The New Yorker as a “best book of the year.” The English translation of her second short story collection, The Woman Dies (『女が死ぬ』, tr. Polly Barton), is forthcoming from Europa Editions in September 2025. The collection includes the titular story previously nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. Matsuda’s work has been translated into multiple languages, and many essays and short stories have been featured in English-language publications including Granta, MONKEY, and The Southern Review.

Beyond her accomplishments as an author, Matsuda has gained international recognition as a literary translator. She has skillfully rendered works by acclaimed writers such as Karen Russell, Amelia Gray, and Carmen Maria Machado into Japanese. Through her frequent contributions to Japanese media outlets, she serves as a compelling public intellectual who illuminates structural inequalities and cultural contradictions in contemporary Japan from a feminist perspective.

Awards and Recognitions

2013     Stackable                                              Mishima Yukio Prize                                 Nominated

2013     Stackable                                              Noma Literary New Face Prize                Nominated

2019      The Woman Dies                                 Shirley Jackson Award                             Shortlisted

2021     Where the Wild Ladies Are                   LA Times Ray Bradbury Prize                   Nominated

2021     Where the Wild Ladies Are                   Stabby Award                                            Nominated

2021     Where the Wild Ladies Are                   Firecracker Award                                      Awarded

2021     Where the Wild Ladies Are                   World Fantasy Award                                 Awarded

Reischauer Institute Japan Forum co-sponsored by Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University