Japanese Poetry and the Roots of Resilience

Program Type:

Author Event, Presenter or Speaker

Age Group:

Adults

Program Description

Event Details

What can the poetry of the Heian Period possibly offer to modern Japanese incarcerated in a foreign land? Join authors Michael Freiling and Satsuki Takinawa in an exploration of Hyakunin Isshu – the most famous anthology of the Heian Period, as well as from poems that were secretly transcribed in the dark world of the Assembly Center, where anything written in Japanese was forbidden, compiled in the 2025 Washington State Book Award Finalist, They Never Asked: Senryu Poetry from the WWII Portland Assembly Center.

Michael Freiling works as a data scientist. He studied poetry with David Ferry at Wellesley and helped cofound MIT’s literary magazine Rune. After earning his PhD, he was a Luce Scholar at Kyoto University, where he completed a translation of the Heian Period anthology Hyaku Nin Isshu.

Satsuki Takikawa holds a degree in German literature from Sophia University in Tokyo and has taught English and German at schools in Kyoto and Sakai.

Note

Library events and programs are open to the public and provided at no cost. Special accommodations may be requested using our Disability Accommodation Request Form no later than 15 days prior to the event.

Los eventos y programas de la biblioteca están abiertos al público y se brindan sin costo. Se pueden solicitar adaptaciones especiales utilizando nuestro formulario de solicitud de adaptaciones para personas con discapacidades (en inglés) hasta 15 días antes del evento.