Are You an Echo?
Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko
with narrative and translation by David Jacobson, Sally Ito and Michiko Tsuboi, and illustrated by Toshikado Hajiri, was recently published by Seattle-based Chin Music Press.
My review of Are You an Echo? now appears on the Contemporary Japanese Literature blog (japaneselit.net). Here is the opening of my review:
Ito's essay provides compelling context and detailed backstory to accompany Are You and Echo? Ito notes of Kaneko's poetry:
Publishers Weekly recently gave the book in-depth coverage in this feature that includes comments by Jacobson and several of the richly detailed illustrations by Tokushima-based illustrator Toshikado Hajiri.
For more information about this book, a treasure for poetry lovers of all ages around the world, visit the website about the book created by Chin Music Press.
And for poets, after reading Are You an Echo? try writing some poems with, as poet/translator Sally Ito puts it, that "watchful gaze" to the "unattended or the invisible."
My review of Are You an Echo? now appears on the Contemporary Japanese Literature blog (japaneselit.net). Here is the opening of my review:
"Are You An Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko, published by Seattle-based Chin Music Press, is an unusual picture book — bold and broad in concept and scope. This is a multifaceted book, containing a history of the rediscovery of the writings of Japanese poet Misuzu Kaneko (1903-1930), a biography of Kaneko’s short life, current context for her work, and a selection of 25 of her poems." READ THE FULL REVIEW HEREThis week Electric Lit features a beautiful essay by co-translator Sally Ito: "Forgotten Woman: The Life of Misuzu Kaneko."
Ito's essay provides compelling context and detailed backstory to accompany Are You and Echo? Ito notes of Kaneko's poetry:
"Misuzu had a great capacity for empathy and compassion for all living creatures. And her attentive and watchful gaze often went to the unattended or the invisible. She noticed things other people didn’t and pondered them." READ THE FULL ESSAY HERE.The SCBWI Japan Translation Group blog featured a guest post about the book here by David Jacobson. The post includes the embedded PSA video featuring the poem "Are You An Echo?" widely broadcast after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan.
Publishers Weekly recently gave the book in-depth coverage in this feature that includes comments by Jacobson and several of the richly detailed illustrations by Tokushima-based illustrator Toshikado Hajiri.
For more information about this book, a treasure for poetry lovers of all ages around the world, visit the website about the book created by Chin Music Press.
And for poets, after reading Are You an Echo? try writing some poems with, as poet/translator Sally Ito puts it, that "watchful gaze" to the "unattended or the invisible."
No comments have been added yet.
