Selected Shorts: Haruki Murakami Night

One of Japan’s foremost modern fiction writers, Haruki Murakami is known for his surreal, unforgettable journeys through the human psyche. To celebrate the acclaimed author of Norwegian Wood, 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Japan Society and the hit podcast Selected Shorts present an evening of his stories read live on stage by actors from stage and screen. Featuring oddball characters, dreamlike twists and deeply human dilemmas, this event will satisfy Murakami newcomers as well as those who know every jazz reference and talking cat.

Murakami’s works will be read live onstage by…

Maulik Pancholy

Maulik Pancholy is an award-winning actor, author, and activist. Recent credits include the upcoming Jesse Eisenberg–directed feature film No One Cares with Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, the just-released feature film Nuked with Anna Camp and Justin Bartha, and the indie feature ReEntry with Emily Deschanel and Noma Dumezweni. He created, co-wrote, and stars in the recently released Audible Original series Murder at the Patel Motel. Audiences will recognize him from his comedic turns on television playing Jonathan on the Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG award–winning NBC comedy 30 Rock. He played Sanjay on Showtime’s hit series Weeds, and starred as Neal on the NBC comedy Whitney. More recent television includes Leverage: Redemption and Only Murders in the Building. He is the voice of Baljeet on Disney’s Emmy Award–winning Phineas and Ferb and the title voice of Sanjay on Nickelodeon’s Sanjay and Craig. On Broadway, Pancholy starred in the Tony-nominated Grand Horizons and It’s Only A Play. His debut novel, The Best at It, was named a 2020 Stonewall Honor Book, and his second novel, Nikhil Out Loud, was named a 2023 Lambda Literary Award Winner and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. A longtime advocate for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and LGBTQIA+ communities, Pancholy was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs. He co-founded the anti-bullying nonprofit ActToChange.org, dedicated to ending bullying for AAPI youth and fostering a world where all young people can celebrate their identities.

Jennifer Ikeda

Jennifer Ikeda’s theater work includes Top Girls on Broadway, The Barbarians at La Mama, Vietgone at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. with Soho Rep, Love and Information with New York Theatre Workshop, Titus Andronicus at the Public Theater, Hamlet with Theatre for a New Audience, and The Bacchae at the Delacorte Theater. Her film and television credits include Advantageous, Killing Hasselhoff, Dash & Lily, Blue Bloods, Maniac, Blindspot, and Elementary. Additional projects include David Michalek’s Portraits in Dramatic Time at the Lincoln Center Festival, Selected Shorts, and more than 100 audiobooks, for which she has been honored with two Audie Awards, and including bestsellers by Deborah Harkness, Sarah J. Maas, and Jean Wakatsuki Houston’s seminal book on Japanese American internment, Farewell to Manzanar. Ikeda is a proud union member.

And more!

About Selected Shorts

Selected Shorts is a weekly public radio show broadcast on over 150 stations to over 300,000 listeners. Selected Shorts is produced by Symphony Space and distributed by Public Radio International. The series presents some of our greatest actors transporting us through the magic of fiction, one short story at a time. Sometimes funny. Always moving. Selected Shorts connects you to the world with a rich diversity of voices from literature, film, theater and comedy.

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Japan Society’s Japanese Literature Series is generously supported by a grant from the Toshiba International Foundation, and All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd., the official airline partner of the series.

Support for cultural programs is provided by an anonymous donor; Anime NYC; the Sandy Heck Lecture Fund; Mrs. Faith L. Taylor; and Jean Fan Colson and Daniel Colson.

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support for cultural programs is provided by an anonymous donor and the Sandy Heck Lecture Fund.

Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).