GRACE NOTESA few weeks ago a title for a collection of short writings unexpectedly suggested itself: “Grace Notes.” Then I realized that what it implied didn’t quite fit anything I actually had on hand, so I’ve been scribbling in a notebook, exploring where this might lead. Here are some examples, as shared via Zoom for …Read More
Category: Featured Writers (Page 6 of 26)
Writers in focus
The Poetry of Pain and Its Meaning in the Age of COVID-19 by Michael Freiling and Shelley Baker-Gard (This article first appeared in Frogpond, official journal of the Haiku Society of America, issue 44-3, Autumn 2021.) In late 2017, Shelley Baker-Gard was presented with a manuscript of poems, all in Japanese. They were brought to …Read More
Paul Carty writes… In 2016, Writers in Kyoto held an event to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Somme. There were many participants, who read poems, newspaper articles and in one case the journal of a family member who had served in WWI. One of those who took part was Araki Eiko, Professor Emeritus …Read More
David Joiner has been a supportive member of Writers in Kyoto since we began almost seven years ago. We have followed his career with interest, and were delighted when his second novel Kanazawa was accepted by Stone Bridge Press. He is now working on his third novel. David writes as follows…. The last time I …Read More
“Peace, the Charm’s Wound Up“by Marianne Kimura Sophia is a witch so she ought to be able to think of a spell to make all the plastic sheets vanish. To that end, two small and stylish frosted glass goblets, filled with apple juice and ice, are on the kitchen table. One goblet has a golden …Read More
Poems and Images by James Woodham clouds of illusionchanging slowly as the skysculptures of the wind insubstantial moonon a canvas of pure bluethe faintest brushwork try painting rainbows! for a moment it was there now just a memory …Read More
The following limericks are selected from a collection entitled 101 Nervous Nun Limericks by shakuhachi maestro, Preston Keido Houser. These follow his love limericks from a monk’s perspective. The verses are much in the spirit of koans and Zen humour, lighthearted yet hinting at something deeper. They also have a deliberately irregular syllable pattern from …Read More
Zoom talk on June 13, 2021Report by John Dougill Few people manage to make a career out of literary translation, so those who do must be special indeed. One of them is Ginny Tapley Takemori, the award-winning freelance translator of Sayaka Murata’s worldwide sensation, Convenience Store Woman. WiK’s Zoom manager and fellow translator, Lisa Wilcut, …Read More
by Yuki Yamauchi A native of Kyoto city, Tatsuo Kuriyagawa (1880-1923) honed his knowledge on Western literature, studying under Lafcadio Hearn and then Soseki Natsume at Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo). In 1904, when he graduated as the top student, Kuriyagawa began his writing career by contributing an article on W. B. …Read More
An original story by Marianne Kimura Mr. Nomura had a habit of taking his bicycle and visiting Buddhist temples around Kyoto on fine Sunday afternoons. He had been to Shodenji before, a perfect little jewel of a Buddhist temple, famous for its simple charcoal brush painting of ten monks walking up and down an invisible …Read More
WiK Writing Competition
WiK Anthologies
The Nature of Kyoto (2023)
Eds. Lisa Twaronite Sone & Robert Weis
Foreword by Pico Iyer
Structures of Kyoto (2021)
Eds: Rebecca Otowa & Karen Lee Tawarayama
Foreword by Judith Clancy
Encounters with Kyoto (2019)
Eds: Jann Williams & Ian Josh Yates
Foreword by Juliet Winters Carpenter
Echoes (2017)
Eds: John Dougill, Amy Chavez, & Mark Richardson
Preface by Alex Kerr
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