Nagoya, August 21 - Florida State University Frances Epps Professor Robert Olen Butler spoke to literary scholars and enthusiasts at the Nagoya American Center. Professor Butler read a selection from his 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning short story collection "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain" and spoke to the audience about the nature of writing as an art form. Quoting famous Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, Butler told the audience that "To be an artist means never to avert one's eyes," meaning that true artists must not be afraid to use the chaos of the world around them to inspire their work.

The Japan American Literary Society, Chubu Chapter cosponsored the event. Aichi Prefectural University American Literature Professor Mizuho Murayama moderated the lecture.