The Japan TimesJul 4, 2025
Akira Otani’s “The Night of Baba Yaga” is a genre-bending novel of violence and tenderness that defies easy categorization. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/07/04/entertainment-news/akira-otani-the-night-of-baba-yaga-crime-writing-award/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #entertainmentnews #japaneseliterature #akiraotani #sambett #thenightofbabayaga #translation #lgbtq #yakuza
Queer-coded yakuza story wins prestigious U.K. crime writing award

With “The Night of Baba Yaga,” Akira Otani is the first Japanese writer to win the Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Award for crime fiction in translation.

The Japan Times
TheEdinburghBookshopJun 13, 2025

#WhatWereReading : Joe loved Akira Otani's The Night of the Baba Yaga, translated by Sam Bett. #Japanese fiction with Yakuza, action, queer romance & a Tarantino sort-of vibe to it.

Out now from Faber & Faber

#books #livres #BooksInTranslation #Japanese #JapaneseFiction #TheNightOfThBabaYaga #AkiraOtani #bookshops #librairies #bookstodon

The Japan TimesJun 11, 2025
Looking to diversify your reading list this Pride Month? Dive into these Japanese stories of same-sex love and self-discovery. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/06/11/books/pride-in-translation-lgbtq-fiction/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #culture #books #lgbtq #pride #yukiomishima #meredithweatherby #bananayoshimoto #meganbackus #kaoriekuni #emishimokawa #natsuokirino #philipgabriel #harukimurakami #likotomi #arthurreijimorris #akiraotani #sambett #nobukoyoshiya #marimori #hisaohiruma #makototakayama #naokawamoto #joseando
Pride and prose: Novels that illuminate queer lives in Japan

From Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami to Li Kotomi and Akira Otani, dive into Japanese fiction’s LGBTQ+ narratives in honor of Pride Month.

The Japan Times
LordWoolamalooAug 6, 2024

#LunchtimeReading : debut novel by #Japanese author Akira Otani, The Night of the Baba Yaga (trans Sam Bett), "a no-holds barred queer gangland thriller".

Coming from Faber in September

#books #livres #AmReading #JapaneseFiction #AkiraOtani #TheNightOfBabaYaga #queer #QueerWriters #bookstodon

The Japan TimesJun 27, 2024
Sam Bett’s translation of Akira Otani’s queer-coded yakuza thriller “The Night of Baba Yaga” will be released on July 2, the novel's English-language debut. “It’s not a safe book,” he says, “but I mean that in the most complimentary way.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2024/06/27/books/bett-otani-night-baba-yaga-book/ #culture #books #akiraotani #sambett #thenightofbabayaga #thriller #translation
‘The Night of Baba Yaga’ weaves a yakuza thriller into a meditation on queerness

Translator Sam Bett gravitated to the Akira Otani novel for its refusal to adhere to established genre conventions.

The Japan Times