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Author Spotlight
Hana Mori
JapanLiterary Fiction
A quiet chronicler of interior lives, writing the women who refuse to disappear from their own stories.
"Silence is not the absence of a voice. It is the shape a voice makes when it chooses restraint."
A life in letters
Born in Kanazawa, Hana Mori writes in the tradition of the shishōsetsu — the personal novel — while breaking its rules with sly, generous humor.
The Still Hours
Literary Fiction
The Still Hours
A quiet chronicler of interior lives, writing the women who refuse to disappear from their own stories.
From first draft to found voice
She began publishing short fiction in small Tokyo journals before her debut collection was translated into eleven languages.
Awards & honors
- Akutagawa Prize Shortlist (2022)
- PEN Translates Award (2024)
Fun facts
- Writes only between the hours of 4 and 7 a.m.
- Keeps a garden of exactly seven camellias.
- Never travels without a notebook of unlined paper.
Featured interview
Interview
A conversation with Hana Mori
On craft, quiet obsessions, and the making of The Still Hours.
Book discussion history
- Circle No. 3 — The Still HoursJuly 11, 2026
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