A convivial round table talk and discussion, with the spotlight falling on Eric Johnston (third left), who steered the anthology through the production process at very little cost to WiK. A triple toast of thanks to him!
David Duff, posing as poster boy for WiK’s very first anthology.
As the evening wore on, there was animated talk between different groups and folk who had never met before…
A great setting for a large group, with space and good service. Cafe Maaru, near Gojo Kawaramachi.
Peter Mallett, winner of WiK’s first writing competition, came all the way from Kobe to collect his copy of the anthology.
Pray silence for chief editor, and the man responsible for the successful launch of the anthology, Eric Johnston….
Food, drink and bonhomie.
In the foreground Jeff Robbins, Basho expert and WiK resident of Fukuoka, looks over the contents of the Anthology. Eleven different contributors in all, with work ranging from contemporary poetry to whimsical fiction.
The first WiK anthology has now been successfully launched. Every WiK member will receive a free washi-covered copy, and other copies are being sent out to publishers, media outlets and people of significance in the literary world. For those in Kyoto there are free copies in Maruzen, so if you would like to obtain one please look out for them when perusing the English book section.
The editors were most pleased with the quality of the contributions, and these were complemented by the line drawings of Oxford artist, Wendy Skinner-Smith. The content (48 pages in all) is surprisingly varied, covering a range of fiction and non-fiction interspersed with poetry and whimsy. We are very keen to get feedback, and hope to build on this pioneering project in the future. We’ll be discussing in the autumn which direction to move in future, particularly in terms of ISBN, amazon, ebook, online publication and POD, etc. For the moment, should anyone have suggestions about how to further publicise or distribute the present anthology, please pass along your ideas. And should anyone wish to be involved with the next anthology, please get in touch with John Dougill or other members of WiK.
The contents of the first WiK anthology are as follows:
Poems by Mark Richardson
The Oiwa Mystery by John Dougill
The Adventures of Inspector Ashidori by H.L. Stone
Musings by A.J. Dickinson
Juliet is the Sun by Genma Nishiyama
That Most Metaphysical of Objects by Allen Weiss
Kimono Memories by Peter Jonathan Mallett
The Island of Serow by Amy Chavez
The Perfect Sento by Chris Rowthorn
Japanese Pottery 101 by Robert Yellin
It Ain’t No Yellow Fever by David Duff
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