Dinner with Murakami

Dinner with Murakami – a unique literary premiere on 20th May in many Polish cities.

Two early novels of Haruki Murakami, the best known Japanese writer, have been published in Poland. Polish readers will be the first in Europe to read  Hear the Wind Sing/Pinball, 1973 ( Słuchaj pieśni wiatru / Flipper roku 1973) in their native language. The novels will premiere on 20th May at dozens of Polish restaurants. At that evening hundreds of enthusiasts of Murakami  prose will seat at the tables over Marta Gessler’s special menu inspired by the works of the Japanese novelist. It is the first such a grand-scale literary dinner to be held in Poland.

Hear the Wind Sing/Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami’s debut novels. The writer introduces his nameless hero and the Rat whom his readers know from his later books. Similarly to his later works, his characters pursue their own identity and make a sort of time travel, recollecting past events. The publication of Murakami’s two early books  is an opportunity for discovering his literary roots and exploring his literary path.

On 20th, a day before the official premiere of Hear the Wind Sing/Pinball, 1973 in Polish, a special literary dinner with Murakami will be held. Enthusiasts of Murakami’s books and sophisticated gourmets will  gather to taste dishes inspired by his books, as the author is also known  for culinary interests and fondness of good eating. On the menu prepared by Magda Gessler specially on that occasion, there will be such dishes as ”Kafka Tamura Falling Fish” or  ”Weight-Off-My-Mind Soup”. All dishes have been inspired by the Japanese writers’ characters, fiction and atmosphere. The guests will also obtain the Polish version of  Haruki Murakami’s Hear the Wind Sing/Pinball, 1973 before the official; premiere.

Several dozens of restaurants all over Poland volunteered for the dinner. You can taste the Murakami Menu in Gdańsk, Krakow, Wrocław, Sandomierz, Bydgoszcz, Jelenia Góra, and even in Śrem. In Warsaw the Dinner with Murakami will be offered at Qchnia Artystyczna, Marta Gessler’s restaurant. Dinner with Murakami its the first such culinary and literary event in Poland.

Look for the list of restaurants participating in the event here.