7 h. ago ‘Marriage feels like a hostage situation, and motherhood a curse’: Japanese author Sayaka Murata

The Convenience Store Woman author is renowned for challenging social norms in darkly weird near-future fiction. She discusses sex, feminism and her struggles to be an ‘ordinary earthling’“I have had relationships with humans, but I’ve also loved a lot of people in stories,” Sayaka Murata, the Japanese author of the bestseller Convenience Store Woman, confides a few minutes into our interview. “I’ve been told by my doctor not to talk about this too much, but ever since I was a child, I’ve had 30 or 40 imaginary friends who live on a different star or planet with whom I have shared love and sexual experiences.”It is 7pm in Tokyo, mid-morning in London. Sitting upright at a desk in an empty publisher’s office, the 45-year-old author – wearing a cream silk blouse and with a neatly curled bob – might be reading the news rather than discussing imaginary friends. For context, her latest novel to be translated into English, Vanishing World, depi...

Events

11 h. ago Corontation Street's Betsy Swain 'lashes out' as she takes 'revenge' after Rob Donovan shooting

As fans of the ITV soap know, Betsy was the victim of Rob's hostage situation last month when the convicted murderer returned to the street

Events

7 d. ago Meagan Good says marriage to ‘best friend’ Jonathan Majors is ‘amazing’ but ‘feels different’

Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good married in March after announcing their engagement in November 2024

Politics

7 d. ago Novelist Katie Kitamura: ‘As Trump tries to take away everything I love, it’s never been clearer that writing matters’

The Japanese-American author of unsettling new novel Audition talks about why fiction isn’t frivolous, family life with fellow writer Hari Kunzru, and how US authors are facing a critical momentSome years ago, Katie Kitamura came upon a headline that read something like: “A stranger told me I was his mother.” The headline gripped her, but she never clicked through to the article. She imagined the story would offer some explanation – perhaps the author had given up a child for adoption, for instance. “I was much more interested in not having a concrete answer but just exploring the situation itself,” she tells me. “I’m intrigued by the idea that you could be very settled in your life and something could happen that could overturn everything that you understand about yourself and your place in the world.”The headline provided the inspiration for Kitamura’s fifth novel, Audition, a beguiling and unsettling book that opens with a meeting between an unnamed actor and a handsome college s...

Politics

2 w. ago 3 dead, including two convicted pedophiles, after ‘altercation’ in Arizona State Prison

Police believe a suspect involved in an infamous hostage situation killed the inmates

Events

2 w. ago Vogue Williams says 'I don't think Spencer feels the same way' in marriage update

The Irish model and her Made In Chelsea husband are about to undertake a massive renovation project together – one she admits they are "not on the same page"

Politics

3 w. ago Coronation Street fans 'see a spark' as they 'rumble' Kit Green's next romance amid past reveal

It comes after the character, played by Jacob Roberts, had a role to play in this week's dramatic scenes as a hostage situation

Politics

3 w. ago 'I'm tempted to have an affair as my marriage has started to feel boring'

Resident agony aunt Coleen Nolan has advice for a reader who's considering having a passionate fling with a man in a similar situation to enjoy having sex again

Politics

3 w. ago Coronation Street confirms Rob Donovan future as fans say same thing after hostage situation

The convicted murderer was on the run for weeks before his made his return to Weatherfield for a dramatic showdown

Events