JET memoirist Sarah Coomber to speak at Japan Writers Conference
Books, Events, Japan Writers Conference, JET Alum Author Beat, Writers 
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Posted by Tom Baker
Sarah Coomber (Yamaguchi, 1994-1996) is the author of “Under the Same Moon,” a memoir in which she describes moving to Japan in search of a reset in life. One month from now, she will share some of her memoir writing tips in a presentation at the Japan Writers Conference.
Most of this year’s conference will be held in person at the Shonan Campus of Tokai University in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, but some sessions, including Sarah’s, will take place online via Zoom. (Join the conference mailing list to get the Zoom codes.) Her talk is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Oct. 16 (Japan time). Here’s the official description:
Sarah Coomber
Moment by Moment: Demystifying the Writing of a First Memoir
Craft Workshop online
Nonfiction, Other Genre
Memoir
Telling your story in memoir form can be daunting—you have a lifetime’s worth of experiences to draw from. Where to begin?
Moment by moment.
In this craft workshop, I will share several strategies to help you on your way.
Memoirs, like life, progress moment by moment. The most important thing is not whether your particular story is full of excitement, tragedy or coincidence. What matters is what you bring to the moments in your story—how you view, interpret, reflect on and react to them.
Infusing moments with meaning will help you uncover your larger story. This can occur with sensory explorations, analogies, linked memories, about-ness and more.
I will share what I wish I’d known before writing my first memoir and will coach you through several of my favorite moment-developing strategies.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a scene or observation to explore.
Sarah Coomber is the author of The Same Moon (Camphor Press, 2020), a memoir about two years she spent regrouping in rural Japan after wrecking her Minnesota life. She has worked in public relations and journalism, coaches writing, has degrees in creative writing and journalism, and achieved level four certification in the Seiha School of koto.
Charles Kowalski to host 2022 Japan Writers Conference
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Posted by Tom Baker
Tokai University Professor and JET alum Charles Kowalski will be the host of this year’s Japan Writers Conference, at his university’s Shonan Campus in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Oct 15-16.
He is the author of the Japan-based middle-grade fantasy Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts, and the contemporary thrillers Mind Virus and The Devil’s Son. He has won the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Award, and has been a finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association Literary Award, and the Adventure Writers Grandmaster Award.
This year’s Japan Writers Conference will feature approximately 27 different sessions on various aspects of the writing life, one of which will be presented by Charles himself. Here’s the official description:
Charles Kowalski
The Magic of Humor
Craft Workshop
Fiction, Nonfiction
What wizardry lies in writing magical symbols that make anyone who looks at them fall into helpless laughter? Here, we explore ways to infuse writing with laugh-out-loud humor, such as combining divergent situations to make a comic premise, creating comic characters, and running dialogue and narration through “funny filters.”
Of all the ways to make people laugh, one of the hardest is through the written word. This workshop will present several techniques for infusing writing with laugh-out-loud humor, including:
How humor works by subverting expectations and creating new ones
How to combine disparate situations for comic effect
How to run ordinary dialogue and narration through “funny filters”
How to create comic characters using archetypes, quirks, and comical situations
Todd Jay Leonard to speak on textbook publishing at the Japan Writers Conference
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Posted by Tom Baker
Textbook author Todd Jay is one of the JET alumni writers who will be giving presentations at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference, held on Oct. 15-16 at the Shonan Campus of Tokai University in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. For details, see http://japanwritersconference.org. Here’s the official description of his presentation:
Todd Jay Leonard
Publishing in the EFL Market in Japan: Four Perspectives on How to Make Your Proposal Count
Short Lecture with Q&A
Instructional
This presentation will outline the current publishing market in Japan for EFL/ESL textbooks by reviewing the various points of view of the publishing industry. The presenter, Todd Jay Leonard, has published extensively within the ESL/EFL market in Japan and will offer helpful advice to budding authors who wish to pursue projects geared to Japan’s domestic market.
Most likely, every language teacher in Japan has (at some point during his/her tenure) contemplated writing a textbook to fill a void in the market…in that constant search for the perfect, all-encompassing textbook.
In today’s competitive publishing world, getting the proverbial “foot in the door” can seem daunting and nearly impossible. What are publishers looking for in the current market? What appeals to editors who ultimately decide which titles go to production and which ones do not? What are the salespeople on the front lines hearing from their market base? What must an author do in order to get his/her book published?
This presentation focuses on these very questions, offering inside insights from all the various points of view that must be considered when writing a proposal to publish a textbook–the publisher, the editor, the salesperson, and the author. Professor Leonard explains the realities within the publishing industry and addresses some common myths associated with EFL publishing.
Todd Jay Leonard has been actively involved in book publishing for 30 years and has published 26 books. He has published books with a number of different Japanese publishing companies and this experience has given him a unique perspective in offering advice to potential authors on what the market is looking for currently and what the publishing industry is searching for in new titles.
He lives, writes, and teaches on the southern island of Kyushu, where he is a university professor at University of Teacher Education Fukuoka and is the department head for the English Department for the graduate faculty. He has published extensively in academic journals, magazines, and newspapers on cross-cultural, historical, and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) themes.
JET alum writers: Tom Baker on crafting a pub quiz
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Posted by Tom Baker
JET alum Tom Baker, a “Jeopardy!” champion and regular participant in the Tokyo pub quiz scene, gave a talk at the most recent Japan Writers Conference about “How to Write Pub Quiz.”
You can watch his presentation below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
Japan Writers Conference: Karen Hill Anton on memoir
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Posted by Tom Baker
Longtime Japan resident Karen Hill Anton talked about how to turn an interesting life into a readable book in ” It’s all in the writing – you get no credit for living,” a presentation that she gave at the most recent Japan Writers Conference.
If you have a Japan memoir inside you, watch her presentation below for inspiration and ideas. You can find more JWC presentations at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
Japan Writers Conference: Melinda Taliancich Falgoust on self-publishing
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Posted by Tom Baker
International award-winning author Melinda Taliancich Falgoust gave a presentation titled “Self-Publishing on a Shoestring: Quality Independent Publishing on a Zero or Low Budget” at the most recent Japan Writers Conference.
You can watch her presentation below, and find more JWC presentations at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
Japan Writers Conference: Iain Maloney on “autocomposting”
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Posted by Tom Baker
Gifu-based Scottish author Iain Maloney says, “My latest book, a novella, was written in two days, but was the result of nearly ten years of thinking and planning.” He describes how he did it in a presentation titled “The Writing Process, Autocomposting and Writer’s Block,” which he gave at the Japan Writers Conference.
You can watch his presentation below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
JET alum writers: Joyce Jarman Walsh on interviewing
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Posted by Tom Baker
JET alum Joyce Jarman Walsh, who runs a livestream talkshow called #SeekingSustainability, gave a presentation titled “Live + Engaging Networking via Interviews with Japan Insiders” at the most recent Japan Writers Conference.
You can watch a video of her talk below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
JET alum writers: Joanne Anderton on speculative fiction autobiography
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Posted by Tom Baker
JET alum and novelist Joanne Anderton gave a presentation titled “Speculative Fiction Autobiography” at the most recent Japan Writers Conference.
You can watch her presentation below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
JET alum writers: Suzanne Kamata on “Writing Identity”
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Posted by Tom Baker
Novelist and JET alum Suzanne Kamata hosted a panel discussion on “Writing Identity” at the most recent Japan Writers Conference. Joining her were Tokyo-based writer Clara Kiyoko Kumagai; Kyoto-based fantasy writer and translator Kristin Osani; Indonesian-born Singaporean writer Clarissa Goenawan; and award-winning young adult author Sara Fujimura.
You can watch their discussion below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
Japan Writers Conference: Hans Brinckmann on memoirs
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Posted by Tom Baker
Longtime Japan resident Hans Brinckmann talked about turning his life into a book in “Making a Memoir from a Journal,” a talk that he gave at the most recent Japan Writers Conference.
If you have a Japan memoir inside you, watch his presentation below for inspiration and ideas. You can find more JWC presentations at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
Japan Writers Conference: Melinda Joe on food writing
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Posted by Tom Baker
Japan Times columnist Melinda Joe gave a presentation titled “So You Want to be a Food Writer” at the most recent Japan Writers Conference.
You can watch her presentation below, and find more JWC presentations at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
JET alum writers: Michael Frazier on lyric poetry
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Posted by Tom Baker (Chiba-ken, 1989-91)
Poet and JET alum Michael Frazier gave a presentation titled “A Poem is a Thing that Moves: Contemporary Lyric Poems” at the most recent Japan Writers Conference.
You can watch his presentation below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
Japan Writers Conference: Michael Dylan Welch on haiku
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Posted by Tom Baker
Michael Dylan Welch, a leading figure in the English-language haiku world, gave a talk titled “Even in Kyoto: Place Names in Haiku” at the Japan Writers Conference.
You can watch his presentation below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
JET alum writers: Percival Constantine on self-publishing
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Posted by Tom Baker
Novelist and JET alum Percival Constantine gave a talk at the most recent Japan Writers Conference about “Successful Self-Publishing.”
You can watch his presentation below, and find more JWC presentations — including several by former JETs — at the Japan Writers Conference YouTube Channel.
Also, if you would like to give your own presentation at the 2022 Japan Writers Conference this October, you can submit a proposal here. The deadline is June 1.
