We are thrilled and honored to be presenting, along with bookselling colleagues at Third Place Books here in Seattle and Lake Forest Park, and Village Books in Bellingham, this special virtual appearance by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro. This program is occasioned by his transcendent new novel, Klara and the Sun (Knopf), his first since receiving the Nobel Prize in 2017. For all of us at Elliott Bay, this marks a continuation of connection that began with his first U.S. book tour in 1989, when he came to Elliott Bay for The Remains of the Day. That was before that book would receive the Booker Prize. He has made his way here most every book since, including 2015, when he was here for The Buried Giant. Klara and the Sun is the story of a fragile but spirited young girl and Klara, the Artificial Friend, who is purchased from a store to be her companion.

“Nobel laureate Ishiguro takes readers to a vaguely futuristic, technologically advanced setting reminiscent of his Never Let Me Go for a surprising parable about love, humanity, and science. Klara is an Artificial Friend (AF), a humanlike robot designed to be a child’s companion. She spends her days watching humans from her perch in the AF store, fascinated by their emotions and hungry to learn enough to help her future owner. Klara, who is solar-powered, reveres the sun for the “nourishment” and upholds “him” as a godlike figure. … As with Ishiguro’s other works, the rich inner reflections of his protagonists offer big takeaways, and Klara’s quiet but astute observations of human nature land with profound gravity (‘There was something very special, but it wasn’t inside Josie. It was inside those who loved her,’ Klara says). This dazzling genre-bending work is a delight.” - Publishers Weekly.

In addition to receiving the Nobel Prize and the Booker Prize, Kazuo Ishiguro’s many distinctions include the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star from Japan, and the Chevalier de l’Ordre from France.

Making this day even more special is that Kauzo Ishiguro will be joined in conversation by esteemed novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki. She is the best-selling author of three novels, My Year of Meats, All Over Creation, and A Tale for the Time Being, which was translated and published in over thirty-five countries and shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Her new novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, will be published by Viking in September, 2021. She teaches creative writing at Smith College where she is the Grace Jarcho Ross 1933 Professor of Humanities.

Tickets ($35) include a copy of Klara and the Sun (shipped via Media Mail to addresses within the Continental U.S. only).  A bookplate signed by Kazuo Ishiguro will also be included, but supplies are limited. 

Presented by Elliott Bay Book Company, Third Place Books, and Village Books. You will receive a book from one of the three participating bookstores.

Event Registration