{"id":12571,"date":"2010-07-11T14:04:14","date_gmt":"2010-07-11T18:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=12571"},"modified":"2010-07-29T10:32:12","modified_gmt":"2010-07-29T14:32:12","slug":"best-of-jq-jetaany-hosts-its-first-author-showcase-spring-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2010\/07\/11\/best-of-jq-jetaany-hosts-its-first-author-showcase-spring-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Best of JQ: JETAANY Hosts First Author Showcase (Spring 2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From left: JET alum authors Randall David Cook, Robert Weston, Roland Kelts and James Kennedy talk shop at the Author Showcase in Midtown (photo by Noriko Furuhata) <\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

By Gina Anderson (Nara-ken, 2003-05) and <\/strong><\/em>Justin Tedaldi<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) for <\/strong><\/em>JQ Magazine<\/strong><\/a>. This article was previously published\u00a0on JetWit<\/strong> and appeared in the Consulate General of Japan in New York and Japan Information Center\u2019s <\/em>Japan Info<\/strong><\/a> e-newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n

New York City’s Holiday Inn\u00a0hosted\u00a0a\u00a0summit for\u00a0published JETs as JETAA NY launched its\u00a0debut JET Alumni Author Showcase<\/a> on\u00a0March 22. The panelists included pro writers Roland Kelts<\/a> (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), Robert Weston<\/a> (Nara-ken, 2002-04) and James Kennedy<\/a> (Nara-ken, 2004-06).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Drawing over 60 JET alums, friends and family, the event\u00a0kicked off with some words from Akira Sugiyama,\u00a0director of the Japan Information Center of the Consulate General of Japan in New York. Moderator and playwright\u00a0Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93),\u00a0creator of the critically acclaimed Off Broadway plays Sake with the Haiku Geisha<\/em> and Fate’s Imagination<\/em>,\u00a0asked each author to share a favorite selection of their works with the crowd.<\/p>\n

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A\u00a0professor at three different universities including Tokyo University, a writer and editor for two magazines and a columnist for the\u00a0Yomiuri Shimbun<\/em>, Kelts spoke about\u00a0Japanamerica:\u00a0 How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0his non-fiction book\u00a0about the eponymous\u00a0subject.\u00a0He\u00a0began by pointing out that Japanamerica<\/em> is in part a reference to his own mixed Japanese and American backgrounds,\u00a0explaining that he spent a year in Osaka on the JET Programme in part to have “a real Japanese experience”\u00a0despite growing up with\u00a0a Japanese mother and\u00a0a\u00a0lifelong exposure to Japanese pop culture.<\/p>\n

His\u00a0then read an\u00a0excerpt from the introduction of his book, in which he recalled visiting friends in Los Angeles whose four-year-old daughter was captivated by My Neighbor Totoro<\/em>, the classic anime <\/em>film from Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki.\u00a0Kelts\u00a0cited the story\u00a0as a metaphor for\u00a0what Harvard professor Joseph Nye coined \u201csoft power,\u201d or Japan’s increased influence over a new generation of the West\u00a0through\u00a0pop culture and media.\u00a0What followed was an enlightening discussion that\u00a0touched on\u00a0otaku<\/em> (obsessive fan)\u00a0analysis along with the unique\u00a0changes Japanamerica<\/em> faced\u00a0on\u00a0its way to\u00a0publication in Japan.<\/p>\n

Armed with their flair for performing,\u00a0authors Weston and Kennedy immersed the crowd\u00a0in their readings,\u00a0elevating\u00a0the act of\u00a0reciting fiction to total showmanship.<\/p>\n

“This is a book that\u00a0many people said couldn’t be done, or more likely,\u00a0shouldn’t be done,” Weston said, introducing his rhyming children’s novel\u00a0Zorgamazoo<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0which has\u00a0won several awards since\u00a0its publication last year.\u00a0His\u00a0impassioned reading featured a multitude of character voices (inspired by\u00a0Monty Python and\u00a0character actor Peter Lorre) that kept the audience entranced.\u00a0The author, who\u00a0traveled from Toronto to participate in the event, expressed appreciation for the opportunity to gain exposure in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Kennedy’s background in physics, philosophy and computer programming seem at odds with his creative side, but that didn’t stop the young author from finishing his first book and\u00a0inking a deal with publishing\u00a0giant Random House. Aimed at young adults,\u00a0The Order of Odd-Fish<\/a><\/em> was one of the Smithsonian’s Notable Books for Children in 2008.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0musician and improv comic based in Chicago, Kennedy\u00a0acted out a scene from his novel between two characters arguing over the lethalness of his made-up “Apology Gun,” which he explained could be adjusted from sincere to sarcastic.\u00a0\u00a0The crowd erupted in laughter as he breathlessly fired off lines like \u201cI choke your esophagus with the foodstuffs of destruction!\u201d while bounding back and forth\u00a0across the stage.<\/p>\n

Following\u00a0the readings, Cook\u00a0asked the authors questions about their past experiences as JETs, their present as authors and future plans. Each author already has a new book planned, and\u00a0they all\u00a0tackled Q&As from the audience to discuss\u00a0today’s publishing world and\u00a0how technology is, for better or for worse, changing the way books are marketed and distributed.<\/p>\n

After the panel wrapped, the\u00a0participants\u00a0enjoyed refreshments and\u00a0bought books provided by New York\u2019s Kinokuniya Bookstore. Afterwards, the authors signed\u00a0their works\u00a0and connected with old friends. Interestingly, a number of those friends turned out to be\u00a0Nara JETs who made the trip to New York to support their fellow Nara alums.<\/p>\n

Visit <\/em>www.jetaany.org\/authors<\/a><\/strong> for more photos and video of the event.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information about the authors, each with their respective blogs, visit<\/em> www.japanamerica.blogspot.com<\/strong><\/a>, <\/em>www.zorgamazoo.com<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>and <\/em>www.jameskennedy.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 From left: JET alum authors Randall David Cook, Robert Weston, Roland Kelts and James Kennedy talk shop at the Author Showcase in Midtown (photo by Noriko Furuhata) By Gina Anderson (Nara-ken, 2003-05) and Justin Tedaldi, Editor (Kobe-shi CIR, 2001-02) for JQ Magazine. This article was previously published\u00a0on JetWit and appeared in the Consulate General […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,291],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articlejournalism","category-jq-magazine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkZ7m-3gL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12571"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12845,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571\/revisions\/12845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}