Books May 24, 2020
‘Peaceful Circumstances’: Negotiating relationships in a time of war
by Stephen Mansfield
Roger Pulvers’ “Peaceful Circumstances” is a coming-of-age novel about a young woman at a time when the world is rapidly unraveling.
Books / Reviews | RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS ABOUT JAPAN Aug 31, 2019
'Half of Each Other': Grief, marriage and tragedy
by Kris Kosaka
"Half of Each Other," the newest novel from the prolific author and director, Roger Pulvers, considers how love, desire and grief intertwine in the aftermath of tragedy.
Books Mar 16, 2019
'The Unmaking of an American': One thread in a lifetime of cultural exploration
by Damian Flanagan
Roger Pulvers' latest memoir, "The Unmaking of an American," takes readers on an engaging and occasionally revelatory tour of Japan and Pulvers' own family history.
Books Feb 10, 2018
'Liv': The truth of war in a pair of cornflower-blue eyes
by David Mcneill
In the landmark Western "The Searchers" (1956) directed by John Ford, John Wayne plays embittered Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards, in obsessive pursuit of Comanche Indians who have kidnapped his niece. Such is Edward's hatred for Native Americans we spend the movie convinced he ...
Books / Reviews | ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES Dec 30, 2017
'Strong in the Rain': Poetry from the heart and mind by Kenji Miyazawa
'Strong in the Rain," a classic Japanese poetry collection from Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1921), beautifully reveals much about both nature and humanity. Strong in the Rain: Selected Poems, by Kenji Miyazawa, Translated by Roger Pulvers. 128 pages BLOODAXE BOOKS, Poetry. Miyazawa, raised in rural Iwate Prefecture, was an agricultural ...
Film Apr 19, 2017
Roger Pulvers challenges the idea of a hero in directorial debut, 'Star Sand'
by Mark Schilling
Roger Pulvers has had the sort of free-ranging, multifaceted career that seems like a dream in this specialized age, when academics labor in their narrow professional silos. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944 to Jewish-American parents, he came to Japan in 1967, began teaching ...
Books Mar 21, 2015
The wanderer, writer and suspected spy who embraced Japan
by Stephen Mansfield
T.S. Eliot may have written that "April is the cruellest month," but for Roger Pulvers, this spring is an extraordinarily felicitous one. In March, an English translation of his novel "Starsand" was published and in April, translations will be released of both an anthology ...
National Sep 25, 2013
Translator channels poet Miyazawa
by Scott Dixon
When author and translator Roger Pulvers first arrived in Japan in 1967, he could not read or write the language and asked a friend to recommend "the most beautiful Japanese" literature. "(The friend) said, well, that's Miyazawa Kenji," Pulvers explained, recalling his struggles as he ...