Tumbleweed

Ao Omae was born in 1992, in Hyogo Prefecture. Hailed in Japan as a rising star of gender-conscious literature since the publication in 2020 of People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice, he debuted in 2016 with a short story that was eventually included in the 2018 collection Kaitengusa, of which “Tumbleweed” is the titular story. Other titles by Ao include Watashi to wani to imōto no heya (A room for a crocodile, my sister, and me), Omoroi igai irannen (Only the funny stuff), and Marumi-chan to Usagi-kun (Marumi and Usagi).

Emily Balistrieri was born in 1985, in the United States, and is now based in Japan. His translations include Tomihiko Morimi’s The Tatami Galaxy (HarperVia, 2022), Eiko Kadono’s Kiki’s Delivery Service (Delacorte Press, 2020), and Shaw Kuzki’s Soul Lanterns (Yearling, 2021). Most recently he translated Ao Omae’s People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice (HarperVia, 2023).