Speakers at THC 15
(Friday, January 19th, 2024)
Andrew Fitzsimons
(Gakushuin University)
"The Infinite: Translating a Poem"
about ANDREW
Andrew Fitzsimons is Professor of English Language and Cultures at Gakushuin University, Tokyo, and author of The Sea of Disappointment: Thomas Kinsella’s Pursuit of the Real, as well as three books of poetry. He has also published translations of Italian poetry, including Dante, Montale and Ungaretti. His translation Bashō: The Complete Haiku of Matsuo Bashō was published by the University of California Press in 2022.
Simon Kalajdjiev
(Artist, futurist, illustrator)
"Tokyo Glitch Art:
Painting with Errors in Virtual Space"
Painting with Errors in Virtual Space"
about SIMON
Simon Kalajdjiev is a fine arts graduate from Macedonia now working as a professional architecture illustrator in Tokyo. Before he has worked as an art instructor, graphic designer, storyboard artist and worked at a creative advertising agency. He has also illustrated books such as the Japanese translations of the Warhammer 40K novels, and created art for book covers such as the cover of the 11th issue of Tokyo Poetry Journal, just to name a few examples.
Rie Makino
(Nihon University)
"Japanese Diasporic Writers:
Karen Tei Yamashita and Setsuko Ono"
Karen Tei Yamashita and Setsuko Ono"
about RIE
Rie Makino is currently a professor in the English Department at Nihon University. Her interests include American ethnic literature, transnational studies, and interethnic studies. Her research focuses primarily on Asian American and American ethnic literature. While examining such writers, she attempts to reconstruct “canonical” writers in American and British literature. She is currently working on Hisaye Yamamoto’s and Karen Tei Yamashita’s adoption of Herman Melville’s novels as part of their endeavor to present new prison narratives.
Her major publications include Absent Presence as a Non-protest Narrative: Internment, Interethnicity, and Christianity in Hisaye Yamamoto’s The Eskimo Connection, published in 2015. Further, she recently translated Karen Tei Yamashita’s short story The Bath (1975) as well as her keynote lecture in the 10th International Melville Conference in 2015. She also translated and published Japanese American writer and poet Juliet Kono’s collection of poems Hilo Rains from Mita Bungaku in 2017 and Tsunami Years in 2020 from Takanashi Shobo.
Makino has taught American literature in the United States and Japan. From this transnational perspective, she discusses the purpose, design, and heuristic tools of her courses, which are geared toward American literature majors. Using Yamashita’s novels, she invites students to reimagine the nature of national belonging. She reveals that Yamashita’s works productively trouble Japanese university students’ unquestioning acceptance of the dominant image in mainstream American society and culture of Japanese Americans as a model minority.
Her major publications include Absent Presence as a Non-protest Narrative: Internment, Interethnicity, and Christianity in Hisaye Yamamoto’s The Eskimo Connection, published in 2015. Further, she recently translated Karen Tei Yamashita’s short story The Bath (1975) as well as her keynote lecture in the 10th International Melville Conference in 2015. She also translated and published Japanese American writer and poet Juliet Kono’s collection of poems Hilo Rains from Mita Bungaku in 2017 and Tsunami Years in 2020 from Takanashi Shobo.
Makino has taught American literature in the United States and Japan. From this transnational perspective, she discusses the purpose, design, and heuristic tools of her courses, which are geared toward American literature majors. Using Yamashita’s novels, she invites students to reimagine the nature of national belonging. She reveals that Yamashita’s works productively trouble Japanese university students’ unquestioning acceptance of the dominant image in mainstream American society and culture of Japanese Americans as a model minority.
John Williams
"Under Milk Wood on Sado Island"
about JOHN
John Williams is originally from Wales but has lived in Japan since 1988. He is a writer and director of Japanese feature films, best known for Firefly Dreams, (Ichiban Utusukushi Natsu) and more recently, a Japanese-language version of Kafka’s The Trial, (Shinpan, 2018). Currently he is finishing off a documentary about a small fishing village on Sado Island and a feature film with puppets, loosely based on Dylan Thomas’ radio play Under Milk Wood. He teaches film production, translation, and art-practice at Sophia University.
John will talk about his new film, Tabi, which was inspired by Under Milk Wood and filled with legends and stories from Sado, as well as the local puppetry tradition. The film combines live-action and puppetry and elements of Noh theater. The film is not complete yet, but I will show some clips from the work in progress.
John will talk about his new film, Tabi, which was inspired by Under Milk Wood and filled with legends and stories from Sado, as well as the local puppetry tradition. The film combines live-action and puppetry and elements of Noh theater. The film is not complete yet, but I will show some clips from the work in progress.
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