Word from Asia: Contemporary Writing from Japan
NEW YORK, April 30, 2011 - Asia Society hosted a variety of Japanese and American writers and poets on Saturday for Word from Asia: Contemporary Writing From Japan, a part of PEN World Voices.
The program was broken into two panels, the first a conversation between novelists Hiromi Kawakami and Rebecca Brown. Their conversation explored their various influences, and realism and surrealism in their work. The second panel featured Joshua Beckman and Minoru Ozawa, two poets who have been influenced by haiku, particularly the work of Basho.
Both panels highlighted the fact that despite growing up in different parts of the world, speaking different languages, many writers have a undeniable shared essence. The panels were moderated by Motoyuki Shibata, professor of American literature and literary translation at the University of Tokyo.