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Ten Books by Japanese Authors in Translation
A great way to get a feel for a country, other than living there, is to read its literature. While was in Japan in 2023, I read a lot of Japanese authors in translation. For this post, I’ve limited myself to recommending one book by ten Japanese authors I admire divided into two categories. And I will let the books speak for themselves. Contemporary Female Authors Banana Yoshimoto, The Lake: “It was so gorgeous it almost felt like sadness.” Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman: “You eliminate the parts of your life that others find strange—maybe that’s what everyone means when they say they want to ‘cure’ me.” Yōko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the…
Closed Circle: New Flash Fiction in the Sunlight Press
The others and I hike up the winding trail from the riverbank to the queen of glacial waterfalls. The canyon is steep and stark as though warning me for what’s to come. Forty-five meters high, a hundred meters wide, two…
Seven Books on Grief and Loss
Here are seven books on grief and loss I recommend: More nonfiction recommendations? Read my words on:
Places We Left Behind
The painful thread running through Lang’s moving memoir Places We Left Behind is the question of sacrifice. What should we give up for the person we love?
Meet Châu Quỳnh Lê from Swing Love
Swing Love: Meet the woman whose love for swing dance inspired her business in handcrafted sustainable leather shoes in Vietnam.
Micro Memoirs in DIAGRAM
Three micro memoirs in DIAGRAM about murder as a protective force, the sound of lines slapping against masts, and childhood shame.
Five Books on Indonesia
I recently spent two months on Bali and read many books on Indonesia. Here are five books on the region I recommend.