Robert Weis has a passion for Japan, and for Kyoto in particular. ‘It’s my spiritual home,’ he says. He draws inspiration from its famous and not so famous spots, and for WiK’s fifth anthology he wrote of the significance of mountains around Kyoto. His appreciation of trees, especially maples, is evident in his writing. ‘When …Read More
Tag: Robert Weis
by Robert Weis The following text is an excerpt from the self-published volume A tiny nature – recollections of poems and trees (August 2023), available exclusively from Amazon. It features a collection of poems, short prose texts and photographs of bonsai trees from Japan and Europe. ********************I was gazing at the landscape from behind the …Read More
Sea of Clouds (the art of change) The November sun Dazzles our faces with eyes closed The bright glow of coloured leaves Is not of this world Here, today It is another universe That looks like the world As it is Of islands, rivers, mountains, oceans A monochrome universe Emerges from the stone Expanding my …Read More
By Robert Weis Time has stopped at Wachi Station, where my companion and I are waiting to meet our host, Mr Yamada. I watch the tiny movements of a swallow patiently building its nest under the roof of the grocery shop where we drink coffee. Delicious. My thoughts wander as I follow the comings and …Read More
A spring walk from Ohara to Kurama-deraby Robert Weis Today is a good day, is my thought, observing the shades of green on the mountain slopes through the panoramic window at KULM, a simple-yet-sophisticated vegan eatery in the quaint village of Ohara, nestled in between the rice paddies and mountains that protect Kyoto from the …Read More
Finding an Island by Robert Weis Out on the islandsLights are turning onSea at springtime (Masaoka Shiki) The Inland Sea sparkles in the hot afternoon sun, my eyes are blinking, white skin gently burning. It truly is a romantic idea that brought me here, to the shores of a sea that is hiding its true …Read More
Kyoto 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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