Holly Thompson's Blog, page 17
October 8, 2015
Like Water on Stone--Verse Novels Crossing Borders
A #VerseNovels #CrossingBorders #PoetryFriday Post
Like Water on Stone is an extraordinary verse novel by Dana Walrath about three refugee children during the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
This week Dana Walrath was in Massachusetts to read from and speak about her novel at the National Association of Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) in Belmont. See the announcement in the Armenian Weekly.
Massachusetts, and the Boston area in particular, is home to a large population of people of Armenian ancestry, and Watertown, right next to Belmont, has one of the oldest Armenian communities in the Boston area, so prior to the reading I visited Massis Bakery and Specialty Foodstore in Watertown...
where I was tempted by the apricot paste (see the wonderful apricot sections in Like Water on Stone)...
but instead, I bought lahmejune, various Armenian breads, cookies, jam, pastries and more to savor in the coming weeks.
Like Water on Stone is a novel in verse structured in poems told from various family members' points of view plus an omniscient narrator--the eagle Ardziv. Although this historical novel depicts a painful refugee journey, it also reveals the power of family, and celebrates, as Dana put it, "the strength that lies inside all of us."
Dana's book is moving and beautiful, and her talk was riveting. 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide when some 1.5 million Armenians were killed under Ottoman rule starting on April 24, 1915.
Here is Dana, granddaughter of Armenian Genocide survivors, about to sign my copy of her book...
and here she is speaking with one of my Grub Street verse novel students--whose narrative poetry I also look forward to seeing in print.
Whether you have apricots or lahmejune on hand, read Like Water on Stone. Smile, weep, and make sure you share the book with others, ages 12 and up, both young adult friends and adults. Good stories lead to discussions and can help counter genocide denial. And we should never be silent about genocide.
As tie-ins, if you are in the Boston area, consider visiting Armenian Heritage Park on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston; the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown; and the National Association of Armenian Studies and Research in Belmont--which has an excellent bookstore.
Like Water on Stone is an extraordinary verse novel by Dana Walrath about three refugee children during the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
This week Dana Walrath was in Massachusetts to read from and speak about her novel at the National Association of Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) in Belmont. See the announcement in the Armenian Weekly.
Massachusetts, and the Boston area in particular, is home to a large population of people of Armenian ancestry, and Watertown, right next to Belmont, has one of the oldest Armenian communities in the Boston area, so prior to the reading I visited Massis Bakery and Specialty Foodstore in Watertown...
where I was tempted by the apricot paste (see the wonderful apricot sections in Like Water on Stone)...
but instead, I bought lahmejune, various Armenian breads, cookies, jam, pastries and more to savor in the coming weeks.
Like Water on Stone is a novel in verse structured in poems told from various family members' points of view plus an omniscient narrator--the eagle Ardziv. Although this historical novel depicts a painful refugee journey, it also reveals the power of family, and celebrates, as Dana put it, "the strength that lies inside all of us."
Dana's book is moving and beautiful, and her talk was riveting. 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide when some 1.5 million Armenians were killed under Ottoman rule starting on April 24, 1915.
Here is Dana, granddaughter of Armenian Genocide survivors, about to sign my copy of her book...
and here she is speaking with one of my Grub Street verse novel students--whose narrative poetry I also look forward to seeing in print.
Whether you have apricots or lahmejune on hand, read Like Water on Stone. Smile, weep, and make sure you share the book with others, ages 12 and up, both young adult friends and adults. Good stories lead to discussions and can help counter genocide denial. And we should never be silent about genocide.
As tie-ins, if you are in the Boston area, consider visiting Armenian Heritage Park on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston; the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown; and the National Association of Armenian Studies and Research in Belmont--which has an excellent bookstore.
October 7, 2015
SCBWI Carolinas Inspiration
I was so fortunate to be on the faculty for the SCBWI Carolinas Your Story, Your World conference where I was on the diversity panel and presented a session on Telling Stories Across Borders (see my earlier post Diversity, Translation and SCBWI Carolinas). Such important questions were shared and discussed throughout the weekend, and I was pleased to have the chance to champion translations, fiction set outside the U.S., and diverse modes of storytelling.
The faculty was amazing! Here I am peeking out from between authors Lamar Giles and Kelly Starling Lyons.
Faculty Dinner at SCBWI Carolinas Your Story, Your WorldAnd how fun it was to run into illustrator Jessica Vanderpol, former SCBWI Japan member . . .
to spend time with and read new writing by Ching Yeung Russell, author of the verse memoir Tofu Quilt set in Hong Kong . . .
and meet Kathleen Burkinshaw, author of the forthcoming The Last Cherry Blossom, historical fiction set in Hiroshima during the last year of World War II.
Thanks to SCBWI Carolinas for a wonderful weekend!
The faculty was amazing! Here I am peeking out from between authors Lamar Giles and Kelly Starling Lyons.
Faculty Dinner at SCBWI Carolinas Your Story, Your WorldAnd how fun it was to run into illustrator Jessica Vanderpol, former SCBWI Japan member . . .
to spend time with and read new writing by Ching Yeung Russell, author of the verse memoir Tofu Quilt set in Hong Kong . . .
and meet Kathleen Burkinshaw, author of the forthcoming The Last Cherry Blossom, historical fiction set in Hiroshima during the last year of World War II.
Thanks to SCBWI Carolinas for a wonderful weekend!
October 2, 2015
Cover Reveal and a Fib
It's Poetry Friday and the link-up is here! And I'm happy to officially reveal the cover of my newest verse novel Falling into the Dragon's Mouth due out from Henry Holt in April 2016.
Here's a description:
And here's the Fib--a wee Fibonacci poem about the combination of blind faith and the slow but steady accumulation of words required in the discipline of writing:
Right?
onewordleads toone sentencethen a paragraph
so in a year I’ll have a book
© Holly Thompson (All Rights Reserved)
Here's a description:
In a Japanese seaside neighborhood lives Jason Parker: a sixth grader, an orange belt in aikido, a big brother. Jason Parker is just a boy trying to get through his days. If only everyone around him would let him. This is a beautifully spare novel in verse about one boy's life--a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever struggled to fit in.Falling into the Dragon's Mouth began with a fiction exercise completed in response to a session led by author Graham Salisbury at an SCBWI conference. The scribbles then grew into a short story, then the words finally found full momentum as a verse novel.
And here's the Fib--a wee Fibonacci poem about the combination of blind faith and the slow but steady accumulation of words required in the discipline of writing:
Right?
onewordleads toone sentencethen a paragraph
so in a year I’ll have a book
© Holly Thompson (All Rights Reserved)
September 25, 2015
Island Recall Poem
I recently spent 10 days on a self created writing retreat on the island of Islesboro in Penobscot Bay, Maine.
For three summers during college, I had worked at the former Islesboro Inn, and I had always yearned to return to the island. See my previous post on returning to Islesboro: Geta Poem. My Islesboro visit after many years away was thanks to a friend's generous offer to use her house in September--a perfect opportunity for a solo writing retreat.
For ten days I wrote, read, taught courses online, prepped for presentations, and before after and during all this solitary work, I took bike rides and hikes and explored the island's conservation lands--I had ten perfect days. Thank you to Islesboro Islands Trust for all those amazing trails.
This time on Islesboro was such an extraordinary gift to me, so I decided to pay it forward, and contacted the Islesboro school to offer a free author visit. Over two days, I visited classes from grades 2-12 and was so pleased to be able to interact with students and talk writing, books, cultures and communities.
Islesboro Central School
View from the classroom--sigh
So for poetry Friday I have written a poem about revisiting a place that I had longed for--a place that had meant, and still means, so much to me.
Island Recallby Holly Thompson
I’d forgotten the scent of fern beds how spider webs trap mist and how brittle is old man’s beard draping trees
I’d forgotten the throttle and idle of lobsteringand that fog slips in and slips outobliterates, reveals, like a change of slide
I’d forgotten the silent lift of an ospreya skull washed ashore and the hooked profile of an eagle’s beak as it tears apart its prey
I’d forgotten the arching back of a sealsolo herons traversing the skyand the yip of a piliated before it flies
I’d forgotten meteors scraping the milky waybarred owls calling in night forests—one close to one far away, near echoes
I’d forgotten the height of the tidethe wind from the north and the waves that can split the island in two
and I’d forgotten the lift of fingers from the wheelthat island greeting, and how everyone knows who you are here, even long before you do
© Holly Thompson (all rights reserved)
For three summers during college, I had worked at the former Islesboro Inn, and I had always yearned to return to the island. See my previous post on returning to Islesboro: Geta Poem. My Islesboro visit after many years away was thanks to a friend's generous offer to use her house in September--a perfect opportunity for a solo writing retreat.
For ten days I wrote, read, taught courses online, prepped for presentations, and before after and during all this solitary work, I took bike rides and hikes and explored the island's conservation lands--I had ten perfect days. Thank you to Islesboro Islands Trust for all those amazing trails.
This time on Islesboro was such an extraordinary gift to me, so I decided to pay it forward, and contacted the Islesboro school to offer a free author visit. Over two days, I visited classes from grades 2-12 and was so pleased to be able to interact with students and talk writing, books, cultures and communities.
Islesboro Central School
View from the classroom--sighSo for poetry Friday I have written a poem about revisiting a place that I had longed for--a place that had meant, and still means, so much to me.
Island Recallby Holly Thompson
I’d forgotten the scent of fern beds how spider webs trap mist and how brittle is old man’s beard draping trees
I’d forgotten the throttle and idle of lobsteringand that fog slips in and slips outobliterates, reveals, like a change of slide
I’d forgotten the silent lift of an ospreya skull washed ashore and the hooked profile of an eagle’s beak as it tears apart its prey
I’d forgotten the arching back of a sealsolo herons traversing the skyand the yip of a piliated before it flies
I’d forgotten meteors scraping the milky waybarred owls calling in night forests—one close to one far away, near echoes
I’d forgotten the height of the tidethe wind from the north and the waves that can split the island in two
and I’d forgotten the lift of fingers from the wheelthat island greeting, and how everyone knows who you are here, even long before you do
© Holly Thompson (all rights reserved)
September 17, 2015
Geta Poem
Sometimes the smallest moments become life changing moments.
This week I am on the island of Isleboro, Maine, for a self-created writing residency thanks to the loan of a house by a friend.
Islesboro is where during three college summers I worked as a waitress at an inn. I loved the island then, and I treasure being back here. When I was working those summers at the inn, I thought I might actually move to Islesboro after graduating college. In those days I was a biology major, and in my off hours, I loved tidepooling, exploring trails in the woods, observing osprey nests. In those days I barely knew where Japan was.
But the smallest moments can change everything.
On this island, in those days, there was one place to go out at night--the Islesboro Pub. Everyone on the island--locals, summer people, the workers and the wealthy--all went to the pub for the great music and dancing.
It was a simple pub, but a place where everyone loved the music and everyone, from all strata of society, mixed. Here is a photo of what the inside of part of the pub looked like.
And here is my poem about how a small moment and a pair of geta changed everything.
photo courtesy of Rakuten.com
Getaby Holly Thompson
because I went to the island pub that nightand because he wore to the island pub that nighthis geta, remnants of his rooming house days clackingdown the street to the sentōwith his soap and towel
and because those getawere well worn like his jeans and because I spoke to him because of them,and because he mentioned his months studying in Kyotoand because I mentioned my friend now in Kyoto
because of this, just this, we met and married, strayed from the island, moved to Japan, and grew two kids we fed with onsenand onigiri and made a life trajectory that has arced and curved
so far from the trajectory that my lifewould have followed had I spoken insteadthat evening at the island pub to the guy wearing well worn jeans with docksiders
© Holly Thompson (All Rights Reserved)
(geta = wooden sandals; sentō = public bath; onsen = hotspring baths; onigiri = rice triangles)
Today I visited the site of the pub where I met my husband, who, during one of the summers when I was working as a waitress, was working a summer job as a carpenter, saving money to go back to Japan. And because of meeting my husband, I began my journey toward Japan, where we have now lived for over twenty years.
I stood on the floor, the very spot where we'd first spoken to each other. But the building is no longer a pub.
What was once a pub has morphed into a lovely bookstore. A fitting transformation, don't you think?
Artisan Books and Bindery
Artisan Books and Bindery
This week I am on the island of Isleboro, Maine, for a self-created writing residency thanks to the loan of a house by a friend.
Islesboro is where during three college summers I worked as a waitress at an inn. I loved the island then, and I treasure being back here. When I was working those summers at the inn, I thought I might actually move to Islesboro after graduating college. In those days I was a biology major, and in my off hours, I loved tidepooling, exploring trails in the woods, observing osprey nests. In those days I barely knew where Japan was.
But the smallest moments can change everything.
On this island, in those days, there was one place to go out at night--the Islesboro Pub. Everyone on the island--locals, summer people, the workers and the wealthy--all went to the pub for the great music and dancing.
It was a simple pub, but a place where everyone loved the music and everyone, from all strata of society, mixed. Here is a photo of what the inside of part of the pub looked like.
And here is my poem about how a small moment and a pair of geta changed everything.
photo courtesy of Rakuten.comGetaby Holly Thompson
because I went to the island pub that nightand because he wore to the island pub that nighthis geta, remnants of his rooming house days clackingdown the street to the sentōwith his soap and towel
and because those getawere well worn like his jeans and because I spoke to him because of them,and because he mentioned his months studying in Kyotoand because I mentioned my friend now in Kyoto
because of this, just this, we met and married, strayed from the island, moved to Japan, and grew two kids we fed with onsenand onigiri and made a life trajectory that has arced and curved
so far from the trajectory that my lifewould have followed had I spoken insteadthat evening at the island pub to the guy wearing well worn jeans with docksiders
© Holly Thompson (All Rights Reserved)
(geta = wooden sandals; sentō = public bath; onsen = hotspring baths; onigiri = rice triangles)
Today I visited the site of the pub where I met my husband, who, during one of the summers when I was working as a waitress, was working a summer job as a carpenter, saving money to go back to Japan. And because of meeting my husband, I began my journey toward Japan, where we have now lived for over twenty years.
I stood on the floor, the very spot where we'd first spoken to each other. But the building is no longer a pub.
What was once a pub has morphed into a lovely bookstore. A fitting transformation, don't you think?
Artisan Books and Bindery
Artisan Books and BinderySeptember 11, 2015
Great Marsh Residency?
Being based now for several months in my childhood home on the North Shore of Massachusetts, I'm taking advantage of opportunities to re-explore and newly explore the Great Marsh, a broad, continuous 20,000 acre stretch of salt marsh extending from Cape Ann north into New Hampshire. I cannot seem to get enough of this vast expanse of salt marsh--I have missed it for so long--this complex ecosystem of estuary, mudflats, barrier beaches, small islands, and tidal creeks winding through acres of saltmeadow cordgrass (spartina patens). This environment between land and ocean is an ever shifting zone, and I tend to be drawn to these "inters," these border places, these betweens--such rich landscapes of blending, overlap and comingling--in the outdoors, culturally, and in my writing forms.
I have been thinking that there ought to be a writing residency situated by the Great Marsh (perhaps like the A-I-R Program at Acadia National Park)--for raising awareness and promoting deeper understanding of this vital intertidal environment, for enabling participating writers to draw inspiration from this unique environment in concentrated blocks of writing time, and for supporting conservation and restoration efforts.
Having grown up just inland of the marsh towns, I have always dreamed of being based by the marsh, studying the flora and fauna, the birds, the tides, the storms, the skies, the microhabitats, the natural and cultural history--and writing for months at a time. During the summer after my freshman year of college, I conducted a Least Tern population study on Crane Beach, one of the barrier beaches of the Great Marsh, for the Trustees of Reservation--enabling me to be immersed for several months in that world. How I would love to be immersed again.
For now I satisfy myself with explorations in bits and pieces, an hour here, an hour there. And I dream. And poem:
Marsh Hair
cowlick in the cordgrass-- even tidal combs and wind's brushes can't tame you to behave
© Holly Thompson
This oil painting by Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) of the harvesting of saltmarsh hay captures the Great Marsh landscape:
Here are a few more of my photos of this environment I have always loved.
And don't you just think this house would be ideal for a writing retreat/residency?
Or how about this--a humble (and crumbling) nineteenth century marshside cottage, which is actually for sale.
Okay, back to reality. But I will continue to dream of a Great Marsh writing residency.
Essex County Greenbelt? Trustees of Reservation? Historic New England? Are you with me on this?
I have been thinking that there ought to be a writing residency situated by the Great Marsh (perhaps like the A-I-R Program at Acadia National Park)--for raising awareness and promoting deeper understanding of this vital intertidal environment, for enabling participating writers to draw inspiration from this unique environment in concentrated blocks of writing time, and for supporting conservation and restoration efforts.
Having grown up just inland of the marsh towns, I have always dreamed of being based by the marsh, studying the flora and fauna, the birds, the tides, the storms, the skies, the microhabitats, the natural and cultural history--and writing for months at a time. During the summer after my freshman year of college, I conducted a Least Tern population study on Crane Beach, one of the barrier beaches of the Great Marsh, for the Trustees of Reservation--enabling me to be immersed for several months in that world. How I would love to be immersed again.
For now I satisfy myself with explorations in bits and pieces, an hour here, an hour there. And I dream. And poem:
Marsh Hair
cowlick in the cordgrass-- even tidal combs and wind's brushes can't tame you to behave
© Holly Thompson
This oil painting by Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904) of the harvesting of saltmarsh hay captures the Great Marsh landscape:
Here are a few more of my photos of this environment I have always loved.
And don't you just think this house would be ideal for a writing retreat/residency?
Or how about this--a humble (and crumbling) nineteenth century marshside cottage, which is actually for sale.
Okay, back to reality. But I will continue to dream of a Great Marsh writing residency.
Essex County Greenbelt? Trustees of Reservation? Historic New England? Are you with me on this?
September 9, 2015
Suicide Prevention Day
September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day.
What will you do to reach out and help save lives?
See the website for the International Association for Suicide Prevention to read about some of the many ways in which you can reach out.
See their list of over 550 activities in over 70 countries--click on a country to see what's happening near you. In Japan, there are Lifeline walks in multiple locations.
And did you know that you can take a course to learn Mental Health First Aid? Check for a course near you.
On September 10, I will light candles for the two friends and a family member who died by suicide and in whose memory I wrote Orchards, which is dedicated to survivors everywhere.
Teachers, librarians and students of any middle or high school class that will read Orchards in the 2015-2016 school year, please know that I will be glad to do a free 1-hour Skype visit with your class. Contact me if you are interested.
What will you do to reach out and help save lives?
See the website for the International Association for Suicide Prevention to read about some of the many ways in which you can reach out.
See their list of over 550 activities in over 70 countries--click on a country to see what's happening near you. In Japan, there are Lifeline walks in multiple locations.
And did you know that you can take a course to learn Mental Health First Aid? Check for a course near you.
On September 10, I will light candles for the two friends and a family member who died by suicide and in whose memory I wrote Orchards, which is dedicated to survivors everywhere.
Teachers, librarians and students of any middle or high school class that will read Orchards in the 2015-2016 school year, please know that I will be glad to do a free 1-hour Skype visit with your class. Contact me if you are interested.
September 8, 2015
Diversity, Translation and SCBWI Carolinas
I'm so pleased to be on the faculty at the upcoming annual conference of the SCBWI Carolinas chapter--Your Story, Your World: A Celebration of Diversity in Children's Lit. This post SCBWI Carolinas Expands the Definition of Diversity gives a glimpse of all the greatness lined up at this conference!
I'll be offering a breakout session titled "Telling Stories Across Borders: Caution, Landmines!" in which I'll broach the following two complex questions: How can we wisely cross borders of culture, race and language in our writing? How should we navigate writing novels that take us outside our own heritage or identity? I'll be offering precautions, safety tips and critical do’s and don’ts for the often treacherous journey.
I'll also participate in the "Moderated Diversity Panel with Pat Cummings, Adriana Dominguiz, Lamar Giles, Daniel Nayeri, Holly Thompson, and Yolanda Scott." On this diversity panel, I'll be speaking up for translation and about the importance of translated books in the context of diversity, and why in the U.S., we should be doing much more to promote translation and why we need to be encouraging writers of all languages in all parts of the world, and offering young readers in the U.S. access to more books set outside the U.S., more books from authors who write in languages other than English, more books translated from a greater variety of the world's languages and regions of the globe.
You can read answers to frequently asked questions about translation in this page authored by the SCBWI International Translator Coordinator, Avery Fischer Udagawa: Translation: Some Frequently Asked Questions.
Hope to see you in the Carolinas!
I'll be offering a breakout session titled "Telling Stories Across Borders: Caution, Landmines!" in which I'll broach the following two complex questions: How can we wisely cross borders of culture, race and language in our writing? How should we navigate writing novels that take us outside our own heritage or identity? I'll be offering precautions, safety tips and critical do’s and don’ts for the often treacherous journey.
I'll also participate in the "Moderated Diversity Panel with Pat Cummings, Adriana Dominguiz, Lamar Giles, Daniel Nayeri, Holly Thompson, and Yolanda Scott." On this diversity panel, I'll be speaking up for translation and about the importance of translated books in the context of diversity, and why in the U.S., we should be doing much more to promote translation and why we need to be encouraging writers of all languages in all parts of the world, and offering young readers in the U.S. access to more books set outside the U.S., more books from authors who write in languages other than English, more books translated from a greater variety of the world's languages and regions of the globe.
You can read answers to frequently asked questions about translation in this page authored by the SCBWI International Translator Coordinator, Avery Fischer Udagawa: Translation: Some Frequently Asked Questions.
Hope to see you in the Carolinas!
July 31, 2015
Hokusai Exhibit!
Currently the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is showing the exhibit Hokusai with a comprehensive range of woodblock print works by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The exhibit runs through August 9--if you are in New England, don't miss this! You can preview the exhibit here.
For some reading before or after the exhibit, see the wonderfully informative middle-grade illustrated biography The Old Man Mad About Drawing: A Tale of Hokusai by Francois Place, translated by William Rodarmor (David R. Godine Publishers).
For some reading before or after the exhibit, see the wonderfully informative middle-grade illustrated biography The Old Man Mad About Drawing: A Tale of Hokusai by Francois Place, translated by William Rodarmor (David R. Godine Publishers).
June 5, 2015
Kenji Miyazawa Poem
On this Poetry Friday, I thought I'd turn to the Japanese poet and children's writer Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) and his famous poem "Ame ni mo makezu," often called in English "Strong in the Rain," which has been translated by so many different translators in multiple ways over the years.
Two years ago the poem was released as an English-language picture book titled Rain Won't, published by Imajinsha, with illustrations by animator/illustrator Koji Yamamura, and the translation by Arthur Binard.
Here is a newspaper article about Rain Won't.
The poem especially resonated with Japanese after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated so much of the Tohoku area of Japan for its message of resilience conveyed simply by a beloved Tohoku writer.
The anthology of 36 Japan-connected stories that I compiled and edited to raise money for teens in the earthquake- and tsunami-affected areas of Tohoku, Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction--An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories, includes an excerpt from this poem as an epigraph, a version translated by David Sulz.
On the Tomo blog, among the many contributor interviews, I featured an interview of David Sulz and another Tomo contributor, translator Hart Larrabee, discussing their very different translations of the Kenji Miyazawa poem.
Here is that interview, which also shows how the original poem appeared, and the notebook in which it was discovered.
It would be fascinating for students to have a look at all three versions of the poem, as well as the original (whether or not they can read Japanese), and to listen to a reading of the poem in Japanese.
Here is actor Ken Watanabe reading the poem, as part of his kizuna311 fundraising efforts after the earthquake and tsunami.
Two years ago the poem was released as an English-language picture book titled Rain Won't, published by Imajinsha, with illustrations by animator/illustrator Koji Yamamura, and the translation by Arthur Binard.
Here is a newspaper article about Rain Won't.
The poem especially resonated with Japanese after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated so much of the Tohoku area of Japan for its message of resilience conveyed simply by a beloved Tohoku writer.
The anthology of 36 Japan-connected stories that I compiled and edited to raise money for teens in the earthquake- and tsunami-affected areas of Tohoku, Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction--An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories, includes an excerpt from this poem as an epigraph, a version translated by David Sulz.
On the Tomo blog, among the many contributor interviews, I featured an interview of David Sulz and another Tomo contributor, translator Hart Larrabee, discussing their very different translations of the Kenji Miyazawa poem.
Here is that interview, which also shows how the original poem appeared, and the notebook in which it was discovered.
It would be fascinating for students to have a look at all three versions of the poem, as well as the original (whether or not they can read Japanese), and to listen to a reading of the poem in Japanese.
Here is actor Ken Watanabe reading the poem, as part of his kizuna311 fundraising efforts after the earthquake and tsunami.
