Four From Japan: Main | Introduction

Sawako Nakayasu

Sawako Nakayasu was born in Japan and has lived mostly in the US since the age of six. Her books include Texture Notes (forthcoming from Letter Machine Editions, 2010), Hurry Home Honey (Burning Deck, 2009), Nothing fictional but the accuracy or arrangement (she, (Quale Press, 2005), and So we have been given time Or, (Verse Press, 2004). Books of translations include For the Fighting Spirit of the Walnut by Takashi Hiraide (New Directions, 2008) which won the 2009 Best Translated Book Award from Three Percent, as well as Four From Japan (Litmus Press / Belladonna Books, 2006) featuring four contemporary poets, and To the Vast Blooming Sky (Seeing Eye Books), a chapbook of poems by the Japanese modernist Chika Sagawa. Forthcoming from Litmus Press in 2010 is a translated collection of poems by Ayane Kawata. Nakayasu has received fellowships from the NEA and PEN, and her own work has been translated into Japanese, Swedish, Arabic, Chinese, and Vietnamese. More information can be found here.

Word Riot interview with David F. Hoenigman. March 15, 2010

• Best Translated Book finalist from Three Percent. March 2011.
• Asymptote review. January 2011.
• Poets.org review. Fall 2010.
• New Pages review by C.J. Opperthauser. November 1, 2010.
• Galatea Resurrection review by Eileen Tabois. April 30, 2010.

• Poetry Project Newsletter review. Fall 2007.
• Rain Taxi review by Laura Sims Vol. 12 No. 3, Fall 2007
• Midwest Book Review, Small Press, March 2007
• PENNsound readings from the Festival of Contemporary Japanese Women Poets.