Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway has widely shared her love of literature and reading and supports a number of literary events. Now, she has hosted a panel with celebrated Japanese author Haruki Murakami, a rare public appearance for the author. It also was a reunion for the two after a surprise first meeting.
The Norwegian Literature Festival is the largest literary festival in the Nordic region, held every spring in Lillehammer, a UNESCO City of Literature. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the festival sees both Norwegian and international authors across genres give talks and panels on a number of topics.
Haruki Murakami was the highlight of the festival. He took part in two sold-out talks, as well as joining Norwegian musician Bugge Wesseltoft for “Murakami and Music”, a session looking at the use of music in his works.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit hosted the author for a talk, A Royal Encounter: Crown Princess Mette-Marit Meets Haruki Murakami. The Crown Princess was able to see Murakami speak at the festival in 2010 as an audience member.
Now as host, the Crown Princess was able to ask Murakami several questions about his writing life, how his career developed, and his unique style of writing, living out many readers’ dream.