Takako Arai's poetry is a relentless 'dance of language'
Takako Arai's poems unravel complicated lives in an ever-widening mesh of humanity, her style retaining an energy and optimism despite her visceral, often disturbing subject matter.
In the final annual New Year's Poetry Reading Ceremony before his abdication, Emperor Akihito reflected Wednesday on sunflowers, which have become associated with a major earthquake in the nation. The choice of topic has been said to indicate his ongoing commitment those affected by the ...
'Isako Isako': No punches pulled when confronting internment
Mia Ayumi Malhotra's collection of poetry, "Isako Isako," is a carefully controlled whirlwind of ideas and impressions that reminds us that the scars laid down today will still be visible generations from now
Smile as you study:/ Sharp salaryman senryu/ satirize the slog
Highlights from the 31st Senryu for Salaried Workers Contest riff on the situations employees encounter at the office, home or both.
'The Penguin Book of Haiku': Morsels of poetry from the mountaintop to the gutter
According to author and translator Adam L. Kern, there's a pervasive myth that haiku is only nature poetry, that it is always serious and connected to Zen, that there are hardly any women haiku poets. But haiku covers far greater ground.
Lifetime devoted to haiku nets Scottish poet prestigious honor
Haiku poet and novelist Alan Spence was honored with an Order of the Rising Sun for "contributions to developing haiku poetry in the United Kingdom and promoting mutual understanding between Japan and the United Kingdom."
Japanese researchers work to create AI capable of generating haiku from images
The development of artificial intelligence software that can write haiku based just on images is underway, with researchers hoping the project will improve how technology understands human emotion. A team of researchers and software developers led by Hidenori Kawamura, a 44-year-old professor at Hokkaido University's ...
South Korea shuts famed 84-year-old poet's exhibition amid sex harassment claims by rival
South Korea's capital has closed an exhibition by poet Ko Un, long the country's hope for a Nobel Prize in literature, amid allegations of sexual misconduct and the government is considering removing his work from textbooks. Ko Un, 84, who denied any "habitual misconduct" in ...
Reading to the beat of Kazuko Shiraishi, the black sheep of Japan's poets
For the past half-century Kazuko Shiraishi has represented Japan in a number of international poetry festivals and conferences — in at least 28 countries, she tells me in a recent interview. Sea, Land, Shadow, by Kasuko Shiraishi, Translated by Yumiko Tsumura.64 pages NEW DIRECTIONS, Poetry. She says ...
Hillel Wright: poet, writer and catalyst for Tokyo's literary community
Remembering Hillel Wright, who died on Aug. 1 at the age of 73.
The sheer poetry of the world's first English-language 'karuta' game
Classical Japanese poetry on playing cards — in English? It seems like an odd mix. But when you add tales of love and betrayal and brilliant translation, you get a heart-thumping card game like no other. "It's a world's first," says Peter MacMillan, translator and ...
Fukushima poet Ryoichi Wago wins French award for tweets issued on 2011 disasters
A poet in the city of Fukushima has won a French award for a collection based on Twitter feeds he started shortly after the March 2011 mega-quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters unfolded. Ryoichi Wago, 48, and Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co., which published his collection, said ...
