Ryūnosuke Akutagawa was one of Japan’s great writers – author of the stories ‘Rashōmon’ and ‘In a Bamboo Grove’, most famously – who lived through Japan’s turbulent Taishō period, including the devastating 1923 Earthquake, only to take his own life at the age of just thirty-five in 1927.

Described as “one of the most original and intriguing books you’ll read this year,” and “the most illuminating commentary possible that Anglophone readers could find on this compelling figure,” Patient X is a novel of twelve tales inspired and informed by the life and works of Akutagawa. David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, declared Patient X to be “the best work to date” by David Peace. In this talk, David will be reading from Patient X and discussing the life and work of Akutagawa with Damian Flanagan.

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