Jan 10

Japan Society presents Kazuko Shiraishi, the “Allen Ginsberg” of Japan, Friday, Jan. 30, 6:30pm

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Interesting upcoming event at Japan Society in NYC:

JAPAN SOCIETY PRESENTS THE “ALLEN GINSBERG OF JAPAN,” WHO READS FROM NEW WORK, ACCOMPANIED BY LIVE JAZZ

My Floating Mother, City: An Evening with Kazuko Shiraishi

Friday, January 30, 2009, 6:30 pm at Japan Society

New York, NY – Japan Society presents an intimate evening with one of Japan’s foremost poets, Kazuko Shiraishi, in conjunction with the recent English-language collection of her poetry, My Floating Mother, City. Shiraishi, a pioneer in jazz-poetry collaboration, is joined by trumpeter Itaru Oki for a special live performance, and partakes in a discussion and Q&A moderated by Forrest Gander, author and Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Brown University. My Floating Mother, City: An Evening with Kazuko Shiraishi takes place Friday, January 30 at 6:30 pm and is followed by a reception.

Beloved by readers around the world for her humane vision, Kazuko Shiraishi is one of the most highly regarded Japanese poets. Shiraishi’s new collection, My Floating Mother, City (New Directions, January 2009), contains poems translated into English from her most recent books published in Japan, including The Running of the Full Moon (2004) and My Floating Mother, City (2003), which received the Bansui Poetry Award and a Cultural Award from the Emperor of Japan. Also included in the book are three long sequences including Sendai Metro; Greece Street, translated for the first time; and Little Planet, translated on a paper napkin by Allen Ginsberg, a close friend of Shiraishi who traveled with her to Paris and Mexico for readings. Karen Michel from NPR noted: “Her words were once considered too daring and explicit, but she’s now considered one of the country’s most famous and honored poets. Her free-form style, often set to jazz, earned her the nickname ‘the Allen Ginsberg of Japan.'”

Born in Vancouver in 1931, Kazuko Shiraishi has published more than twenty books of poetry and numerous volumes of essays, and has received all of Japan’s major literary awards including the Mugen Poetry Award for A Conoe Returns to the Future (1978), the Rekitei Award for Sand Families (1982), the Takami Jun Award, the Yomiuri Literature Award, and the Purple Ribbon Medal from the Emperor of Japan for Let Those Who Appear (1996). In the 60s, she was a pioneer in the call for freedom of expression and for uninhibited spiritual and sexual liberation. She began a jazz-poetry revolution in Japan, reading to the accompaniment of jazz music. Following such poets as Kenneth Rexroth and Allen Ginsberg, she advanced the jazz-poetry performance to an art form in Japan, in response to the avant garde movement of such musicians as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and others. She last appeared at Japan Society in Spring 2002.

Born in the Mojave Desert in Barstow, California, Forrest Gander grew up in Virginia and spent significant periods in San Francisco, Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico, and Eureka Springs, Arkansas before moving to Rhode Island. He holds degrees in both English literature and geology. The author of numerous books of poetry, including Eye Against Eye, Torn Awake, and Science & Steepleflower, all from New Directions, Gander also writes novels (As a Friend), essays (“A Faithful Existence”) and translates. His most recent translations are Firefly Under the Tongue: Selected Poems of Coral Bracho, No Shelter: Selected Poems of Pura Lopez-Colome, and, with Kent Johnson, two books by the Bolivian wunderkind Jaime Saenz: The Night and Immanent Visitor: Selected Poems of Jaime Saenz .

Established in 1907, Japan Society has evolved into North America’s single major producer of high-quality content on Japan for an English-speaking audience. Presenting over 100 events annually through well established Corporate, Education, Film, Gallery, Language, Lectures, Performing Arts and Innovators Network programs, the Society is an internationally recognized nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that provides access to information on Japan, offers opportunities to experience Japanese culture, and fosters sustained and open dialogue on issues important to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia.

My Floating Mother, City: An Evening with Kazuko Shiraishi takes place Friday, January 30 at 6:30 pm.  Tickets are $10/$8 Japan Society Members/$5 seniors & students. Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street between First and Second avenues (accessible by the 4/5/6 at 42nd Street-Grand Central Station or the E and V at Lexington Avenue and 53rd St.) For reservations call the box office at 212-715-1258. For further information call 212-832-1155 or visit www.japansociety.org.

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