Ms Ice Sandwich

Mieko Kawakami is the author of the internationally bestselling novel Breasts and Eggs, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and one of TIME’s Best 10 Books of 2020, and the highly-acclaimed Heaven, her second novel to be translated and published in English, which Oprah Daily described as written “with jagged, visceral beauty.” Born in Osaka, Japan, Kawakami made her literary debut as a poet in 2006, and in 2007 published her first novella, My Ego, My Teeth, and the World. Known for their poetic qualities, their insights into the female body, and their preoccupation with ethics and modern society, her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Kawakami’s literary awards include the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, and the Murasaki Shikibu Prize. She lives in Tokyo, Japan.

Louise Heal Kawai has been a Japanese-English literary translator since 2006. Her translations include a variety of mystery and literary fiction. In 2025 she was awarded the Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize by the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture for her translation of The North Light by Hideo Yokoyama. She is also the translator of Sosuke Natsukawa’s The Cat Who Saved Books. Louise comes from Manchester in the UK and currently resides in Yokohama.