Asako Yuzuki in Conversation with Hanako Footman

Inspired by a real case of a convicted con woman and serial killer, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is the searing tale of a gourmet cook turned murderer who is said to have seduced her victims with her home cooking. A shocking and exhilarating story of obsession and an unsettling exploration of misogyny, this is the first work to appear in English from one of Japan’s most thrilling contemporary novelists.

Asako Yuzuki was born in Tokyo in 1981. She won the All Yomimono Award for New Writers for her story, ‘Forget Me, Not Blue’, which appeared in her debut, Shuuten No Anoko, published in 2010. She won the Yamamoto Shūgorō Award in 2015 for Nile Perch No Joshikai. She has been nominated multiple times for the Naoko Prize, and her novels have been adapted for television, radio and film. Butter, released in the UK in February 2024, is her first novel to appear in English.

Yuzuki will be in conversation with actor and writer Hanako Footman. Footman is a British-Japanese author and actor. She grew up in Wimbledon and trained at LAMDA. She now lives in Dalston, East London. As a child she spent her school holidays in Japan, at her grandmother’s house by the sea. She tries to go back whenever she can. Hanako’s debut novel Mongrel was shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize in 2024.

This event is presented in partnership with the Japan Foundation in assocation with 4th Estate. The event will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Doors will open from 6:45pm.

Tickets: £8 General Admission / £18 Book and Ticket, inc. a copy of Butter (RRP £14.99)

Venue: The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road*

*Please note that the Auditorium at Foyles is fully accessible from the Ground floor lifts.

Image Credits: Asako Yuzuki by Junya Inagaki and Hanako Footman by Jack Farthing