BEST AUTHOR BEST : BRYAN WASHINGTON

HIS new novel, '' Palaver,'' is about an expat in Japan, whose mother surprises him with a visit.

.-  What's the last great book you read?

Jazmina Barrera's '' Linea Negra, '' Ibtisam Azem's '' The Book of Disappearance,'' Yang Shuang-zi's '' Taiwan Travelogue,'' Bae Myung-hoon's '' The Proposal,'' Nicola Dinan's '' Disappoint Me'' and Kyung-Sook Shin's '' I Went To See My Father.''

.-  What's your favorite book no one else has heard of?

'' How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart,'' by Florentyna Leow, and '' A Whore Diary,'' by Akira the Hustler, shifted how I view Language and the world around me.

.-  What books are on your stand?

Natsuo Kirino's '' Swallow's,'' Eloghosa Osunde's '' Necessary Fiction,'' Aja Gabel's '' Lightbreakers,''  Yuki Tanaka's '' Chronicle of Drifting,'' Renee Dladman's '' My Lesbian Novel,'' Bora Chung's '' Midnight Timetable '' and Won-pyung Sohn's '' Almond '' [ which is always there ].

.-  Describe your ideal reading experience.

If I am in Japan, then on the grass at Yoyogi Park, or on the Shinkansen headed westward with coffee by a window seat. If I'm in California, then mildly stoned at a jjimjilbang.

.-  Do books serve  a moral function, in your view? How so?

IF an author is disinclined to speak about crimes against humanity - like genocide - then I'm generally disinclined to value their thoughts on love, family, loss or anything else.

.-  How did you decide on '' Palaver '' as the title of your book?

One definition for “palaver” is “an improvised conference between two groups, typically those without a shared language or culture.” The protagonists embark with seemingly little in common, despite having come from the same place. They share the same language, in a literal sense, but even this is markedly variable:

“Love,” “intimacy” and “time” mean very different things to them, and the time they’ve spent apart has only calcified those differences.

But as their story progresses, so does their palaver — the time they spend together, and the time they spend in the world apart, allows them to mold a new language and way of being that’s amenable for them both; one less attuned to how they “should be” than how and who they actually are.

.-  Did you listen to music while writing?

Kenji Kihara, Lee Kang Seung, Teresa Teng, Alton Ellis, Smino, Shintaro Sakamoto, My Bloody Valentine, george, Lady Wray, Khalil Fong, Fishmans and Tina Turner.

This Publishing continues to Part [ 2]. The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.