Floyd Cheung and I are pleased to announce that our new anthology, The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration, will be published as a Penguin Classic on May 14, 2024. You can now pre-order the book from your neighborhood independent bookstore, or from one of these online sellers.
Continue reading Coming May 2024: The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration
All posts by Frank Abe
In Memoriam: Martha Nakagawa, resistance storyteller
This is one of the hardest things I’ve had to contemplate writing. These In Memoriam posts have mostly been devoted to celebrating the lives and marking the passage of Nisei wartime resisters and those whose lives they’ve touched. I know I’m not alone in still being in a state of shock at having to memorialize the life of someone so young and vital as Martha Nakagawa of Los Angeles.
Continue reading In Memoriam: Martha Nakagawa, resistance storyteller
Finding the true location of the Tule Lake Stockade
The Tule Lake Stockade was “an instrument of terror in camp. You could be arrested with no hearing and no charge, just picked up. You didn’t know who you could talk to safely, or what to say. If you were picked up, what you said was the reason. And whoever heard that might be the inu who informed on you. This created real paranoia in camp.”
Continue reading Finding the true location of the Tule Lake Stockade
Putting John Okada on the Seattle Literary Map
Thanks to Seattle City of Literature, we’ve put John Okada on the map — the Seattle Literary Map.
It’s with good reason that Seattle is one of two U.S. cities to be designated as a UNESCO City of Literature. Besides our active literary scene, it was the birthplace or home to some of America’s most notable writers, including the author of No-No Boy. Continue reading Putting John Okada on the Seattle Literary Map
The Centrum Residency Podcast
At the Centrum Foundation Emerging Writers Residency last October, the ten residents paired up to record a podcast about our process working in our cabins for one month at Fort Worden State Park. Continue reading The Centrum Residency Podcast
Searching for families of these Issei writers
This is an appeal for anyone with leads on the families of Joji Nozawa, Kazuo Kawai, Hyakuissei Okamoto, Yoshio Abe, Iwao Kawakami, and other Issei writers whose work we plan to feature in a forthcoming anthology of camp literature [UPDATE: We’ve now heard from relatives of Nozawa and Kawakami].
Prof. Floyd Cheung and I have nearly completed the manuscript for The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration to be published by Penguin Classics in spring or fall 2024. The collection includes around 60 selections from Before Camp, The Camps, and After Camp. Continue reading Searching for families of these Issei writers
In Memoriam: Roger Daniels, the dean of incarceration camp history
We mourn the loss of the dean of Japanese American camp history. Roger Daniels passed away peacefully in Bellevue, Washington, on December 9, surrounded by family, a week after celebrating his 95th birthday.
Continue reading In Memoriam: Roger Daniels, the dean of incarceration camp history
Resisters, Redress and John Okada On Display at Wing Luke Museum
A belated post to catch up on the October 14 opening of the RESISTERS: A Legacy of Movement From the Japanese American Incarceration at the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle. It’s certainly my kind of subject, so I’m grateful to Mikala Woodward and her team at the Wing for accepting some of my suggestions for display out of our discussions on the Citizens Advisory Committee. Some things pulled off my wall and bookshelf for this show, but keep reading to learn about one exceptional hidden gem in this exhibit.
“WE HEREBY REFUSE” named finalist for the 2022 Washington State Book Awards
Announced today: We Hereby Refuse has been named one of five Finalists in Creative Nonfiction for the 2022 Washington State Book Awards.
Continue reading “WE HEREBY REFUSE” named finalist for the 2022 Washington State Book Awards
Liz Cheney, a standing ovation, and a viral tweet
The returns are in, and as predicted, Rep. Liz Cheney was defeated in her Wyoming primary for standing up for the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law. But those are the values we share 
with her in light of the wartime incarceration, so for one brief, shining moment last month Liz Cheney was able to bask in a spontaneuous show of support from those of us attending the 2022 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage. Continue reading Liz Cheney, a standing ovation, and a viral tweet