Four from Japan

Poetry. Bilingual Edition. Asian & Asian American Studies. Translated from the Japanese by Sawako Nakayasu, Ryoko Sekiguchi, and Cole Swensen. This revolutionary volume of work by Kiriu Minashita, Kyong-Mi Park, Ryoko Sekiguchi, and Takako Arairepresents the first book of its kind--a bilingual anthology dedicated to women working in modern and cross cultural poetry milieus. Published collaboratively by Belladonna Books and Litmus Press in honor of the Festival of Contemporary Japanese Women Poets with support by NYSCA.

"Litmus and Belladonna have produced a gorgeous volume... [T]he collection presents a perspective on Japanese poetry in its contemporary situation and on the tradition these poems rise out of and/or against... The collection also reminds me that the most daring poems do not experiment merely for the sake of innovation: they innovate so we may discover."--Matthew Henriksen

"FOUR FROM JAPAN showcases a diverse and reflective body of Japanese verse and other writings that is strongly recommended reading, a seminal addition to academic library poetry collections, and a welcome contribution to Japanese Cultural Studies supplemental reading lists."--Midwest Book Review

"Kiriu Minashita, Kyong-Mi Park, Ryoko Sekiguchi, and Takako Arai...concern themselves with the elasticity of language and the variation of form--at the very least, the poems are all activation and possibility. They are borrowers. They unmask plural complications. For none of these poets want you to have a singular idea of 'Japan,' 'Japanese-ness,' or 'poetry.' The anthology allows its reader to explode one's own conceptions and definitions and explore beyond the familiar... FOUR FROM JAPAN: CONTEMPORARY POETRY & ESSAYS BY WOMEN is one of the best anthologies I've encountered because the book shows a practice of de-centralization instead of map-making and canon-formation. The works are presented in translation and in Japanese; they provide writing by the poets in both lines and in prose; and they all interlock and complicate one another without presenting a narrow view of what Japanese poetry by women can be."--John Rufo