Before a packed house on February 2 at mam’s books in Seattle Chinatown, I was honored to help launch Criminals, the debut novel by Ben Masaoka of Seattle of a postwar Japanese American family that was published after his recent death.
Continue reading “Criminals,” a novel in the spirit of John Okada
Category Archives: Literature of Incarceration
Teachers Guide for “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration”
Just in time for the annual conference this week of the National Council of Teachers of English in Boston, Penguin Random House Education has issued a new Teacher’s Guide to accompany our new Penguin Classics anthology of The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration. You can download it for free as a ten-page PDF.
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Online interviews and a podcast for Penguin anthology
It’s gratifying to see our Penguin Classics anthology continue to find its audience. We were recently contacted for interviews for a poetry podcast and three online Q and A’s.
Continue reading Online interviews and a podcast for Penguin anthology
Audiobook readers bring “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” to life
Listen to the audiobook for The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration and I guarantee you will come away with an entirely fresh experience of the writings we’ve presented in our new Penguin Classics anthology. Order it here or ask your local public library to order it for you.
Continue reading Audiobook readers bring “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” to life
Excavating Stories and Unearthing History in Fall 2024
The weather is turning, and it appears to be time to hit the road again starting this weekend, mostly to promote the new Penguin anthology but also to meet continuing interest in the graphic novel and camp resistance in general. Here’s the list as it stands today of in-person and virtual speaking events for this fall, including serving as headliner for the Densho annual fundraiser. Check the Events page for further updates.
Continue reading Excavating Stories and Unearthing History in Fall 2024
“The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” published today as a Penguin Classic
The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration hits bookstore shelves today. You will finally be able to walk into a shop and buy a copy to take home. With their iconic black-and-white-and-orange covers, everyone has read or seen a Penguin Classic at some point in their lifetime. Whenever a character carries one in a movie, it’s a visual shorthand to signal the character is a scholar or book nerd. Continue reading “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration” published today as a Penguin Classic
Now online: the Fair Play Committee files from the National Archives
This year we observe the 80th anniversary of the trial of 63 members of the Fair Play Committee at Heart Mountain for draft resistance, and the subsequent trial of the FPC steering committee for conspiracy to counsel draft evasion. Now, thanks to six years of work by staff of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, we are able to view online the personal WRA files kept on those members of the largest organized resistance to incarceration, the story documented in our PBS film, Conscience and the Constitution. You can see the files by opening the box below:
Continue reading Now online: the Fair Play Committee files from the National Archives
Audiobook and table of contents for Penguin anthology
I could not believe there would be interest in an audiobook of our anthology of camp literature coming May 14, but as a Facebook friend pointed out, having a set of audio readings is not just entertainment for long road trips or jogging with earbuds, but an essential access for the visually impaired. Continue reading Audiobook and table of contents for Penguin anthology
Coming May 2024: The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration
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
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