Leza Lowitz (born December 29, 1962,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

) is an American expatriate writer residing in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan and in the American Southwest. She has written, edited and co-translated over twenty books, many about Japan, its relationship with the US, on the changing role of Japanese women in literature, art and society, and about the lasting effect of the Second World War and the desire for reconciliation in contemporary

Japanese society The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ances ...

. She is also an internationally renown yoga and mindfulness teacher recognized for her work bridging poetry and the spiritual path through disciplines like yoga and mindfulness.

Biography

Lowitz grew up in San Francisco and Berkeley, and attended Berkeley High School, from which she graduated in 1980. She was accepted into the first year of NYU's School of Dramatic Writing at age 18, and attended NYU for two years before transferring to

U.C. Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

. She received her B.A. in English literature from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

in 1984 and her M.A. in creative writing from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

in 1988, where she briefly taught before moving to Japan. She studied with poets Stan Rice and

Robert Hass Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award and shared the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for the collection ''Time and Materials: Poems 199 ...

. During the 1990s, Lowitz helped to bring many modern Japanese poets and fiction writers into English for the first time. She was editor and co-translator with Miyuki Aoyama and Akemi Tomioka of the groundbreaking anthology: ''A Long Rainy Season: Contemporary Japanese Women’s Poetry'' (1994), which introduced Western readers to the

haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, ...

and

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

(

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māor ...

) of Fumi Saito, Yuko Kawano, Machi Tawara, Akitsu Ei and thirteen others. Lowitz and Aoyama later published ''The Collected Tanka of Akitsu Ei'' (AHA Poetry Press.) A companion volume, ''Other Side River: Free Verse'' (1995) featured contemporary Japanese women free-verse poets in translation. It contains the work of three dozen Japanese women writers, including well-known poets as Shiraishi Kazuko, Ishigaki Rin and

Ibaragi Noriko was a Japanese poet, playwright, essayist, children's literature writer, and translator. She is most well known for her poem, , written twelve years after the Japanese defeat in WWII. In 1953, she co-founded the literary journal ''Kai'' ("Oars ...

, who appeared alongside emerging Korean-Japanese (''

Zainichi comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens, and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South ...

'') poets Chuwol Chong, Kyong Mi Park and

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

poet Mieko Chikapp, among others. The two volumes, ''A Long Rainy Season'' and ''Other Side River'', reflect a variety of literary styles and present an astonishing political and social awareness of women in a still male-centered society. Western readers are offered a new perspective on the lives of contemporary Japanese women. In 1993, she collaborated with the

shakuhachi A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .

master

Christopher Yohmei Blasdel Christopher Yohmei Blasdel (クリストファー遙盟、 born 1951 in Canyon, Texas) is a shakuhachi performer, researcher and writer specializing in the music of Japan and Asia. In 1972, while on foreign study in Tokyo, he was introduced to t ...

on a series of readings and musical performances from these anthologies throughout Northern California. In 1995, Lowitz edited ''Manoa: Towards a Literature of the Periphery'', another anthology of translated Japanese literature, with fiction by Kyoko Murata, Hiromi Itoh,

Yoshiko Shibaki was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels. She was awarded numerous prizes for her work, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Women's Literature Prize. Biography Early life Shibaki was born in Tokyo on 7 May 1914 into a merchant family. ...

Teru Miyamoto is a Japanese author. Biography Miyamoto was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan and graduated from the faculty of letters at Otemon Gakuin University after which he became a copywriter. In 1970, he began to write his first novel and quit h ...

, and

Ango Sakaguchi was a Japanese writer of short stories and novels and an essayist. His real name was . Biography Born in Niigata, Sakaguchi was one of a group of young Japanese writers to rise to prominence in the years immediately following Japan's defeat i ...

. In 2001, she edited ''Manoa: Silence to Light: Japan and the Shadows of War'', which contained essays by

Donald Richie Donald Richie (17 April 1924 – 19 February 2013) was an American-born author who wrote about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also di ...

and Ishii Shinpei, last letters of

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to ...

pilots (first-time in translation), testimonials from Taiwanese ''

comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...

'', voices of student nurses from Okinawa ordered to commit suicide, and war-related fiction and essays by

Mishima Yukio , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...

, Hayashi Kyoko,

Dazai Osamu was a Japanese author. A number of his most popular works, such as ''The Setting Sun'' (''Shayō'') and ''No Longer Human'' (''Ningen Shikkaku''), are considered modern-day classics. His influences include Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Murasaki Shiki ...

, Kijima Hajime and

Yōko Ogawa is a Japanese writer. Her work has won every major Japanese literary award, including the Akutagawa Prize and the Yomiuri Prize. Internationally, she has been the recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award and the American Book Award. ''The Memory Po ...

. The book also contains

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

from ''

Barefoot Gen is a Japanese historical manga series by Keiji Nakazawa. Loosely based on Nakazawa's own experiences as a Hiroshima survivor, the series begins in 1945 in and around Hiroshima, Japan, where the six-year-old boy Gen Nakaoka lives wi ...

'' by

Keiji Nakazawa was a Japanese manga artist and writer. Biography Nakazawa was born March 14, 1939 Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan and was in the city when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb in August 1945. Most of his family members who had not evacuated died as a ...

(translated by

Frederik Schodt Frederik L. Schodt (born January 22, 1950) is an American translator, interpreter and writer. Biography Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 wh ...

et al.), poetry by

Tamura Ryuichi Tamura (usually written 田村), a Japanese placename and family name, may refer to: In places: *Tamura, Fukushima, a city in Japan *Tamura District, Fukushima, in Japan *Tamura Station, in Nagahama, Japan People with the surname Tamura: *Tamura ( ...

, Ayukawa Nobuo,

Ko Un Ko Un (born 1 August 1933) is a South Korean poet whose works have been translated and published in more than fifteen countries. He had been imprisoned many times due to his role in the campaign for Korean democracy and was later mentioned in K ...

, Sagawa Aki, Ishigaki Choko, and war-related fiction by Mary Yukari Waters and

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (born September 26, 1934) is an American writer. Her writings primarily focus on ethnic identity formation in the United States of America. She is best known for her autobiographical novel '' Farewell to Manzanar'' that ...

. In 2003, she and Hisako Ifshin translated the prison-camp

of World War II internee Itaru Ina, which appeared in ''Modern Haiku'' and later in the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning documentary film ''From A Silk Cocoon'', directed by Satsuki Ina. Lowitz, Ifshin and with Ralph McCarthy also translated the poetry of pop sculptor cum cultural icon

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attribute ...

(''Violet Obsession'') in conjunction with Kusama's solo exhibition touring the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 196 ...

, the

New York Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the ...

and the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

in Minneapolis in 1998/99. In 2004, Lowitz edited ''The Japan Journals 1947-2004'' by

. From the former curator of film at the

and the leading Western authority on Japanese film, ''The Japan Journals'' include post-war encounters with

Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal a ...

D.T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in s ...

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was considered fo ...

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan * Tõru, village in Kaarma Parish, Saare County, Estonia {{disambig ...

and

Bando Tamasaburo Bando ( my, ဗန်တို, ) is a defensive unarmed martial art from Myanmar. Bando is sometimes mistakenly used as a generic word for all Burmese martial arts, but it is only one martial art; Burmese fighting systems collectively are refe ...

. In 2008, Lowitz with Shogo Oketani translated ''America and Other Poems'' by Ayukawa Nobuo. These are war poems by Japan's foremost modernist poet, who was the Japanese translator of

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

and a founding member of the ''Arechi'' or '' Waste Land'' school of poetry, but also an unhappy soldier in the

Japanese Imperial Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

. This book received the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature from ''The

Donald Keene Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japan ...

Center of Japanese Culture'' at New York's

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. Lowitz first lived in Tokyo from 1989 to 1994, when she worked as a freelance writer/editor for ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

'' and the ''Asahi Evening News'' and was an art critic for ''

Art in America ''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It ...

.'' She lectured on American Literature and Writing at

Rikkyo University , also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. Rikkyo is known as one of the six leading universities in the field of sports in Tokyo (東京六大学 "Big Six" — Rikkyo University, University of ...

and

Tokyo University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

. She was a regular book reviewer for KQED Radio's ''Pacific Time,'' covering Asia and the Pacific Rim, and also reviewed books on Asia for ''The Japan Times'' and ''Manoa'' (1991-2003). Lowitz's own writing explores the idea of place, displacement and what "home" means to expatriate women. Her 2001 book ''Yoga Poems: Lines to Unfold By'' used the

Yoga Sutra The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The ' ...

of Patanjali to structure her personal quest for a spiritual life. The book has appeared in French, Japanese and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

editions, with individual poems having been translated into Spanish and Burmese as well. She and Reema Datta later co-authored ''Sacred

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

Words for Yoga, Chant, and Meditation'' for

Stone Bridge Press Stone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge publishes books related to Japan, having pub ...

. She also writes short stories and essays. After a decade in America (1994-2004) she returned to Tokyo, where she opened a yoga studio. She is currently Contributing Editor for the ''Kyoto Journal.'' Lowitz's work has appeared in hundreds of literary journals including T''he Huffington Post, Shambhala Sun, The New York Times online, Yoga Journal, Best Buddhist Writing of 2011, Harpers, ZYZZYVA, Prairie Schooner, Wingspan'' (All Nippon Airways in-flight magazine) and anthologies such as ''Language for A New Century'' (W.W. Norton), ''The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature, The Poem Behind the Poem: Translating Asian Poetry'' (Copper Canyon Press), ''Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction: An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories, My Postwar Life'' (Chicago Quarterly Review), ''Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad, The Broken Bridge, An Inn Near Kyoto'' and ''RUNES''. Lowitz's fiction has been broadcast on National Public Radio's “The Sound of Writing” and her art reviews and literary criticism have been published in ''Art in America, The Asahi Evening News, Sculpture, The Japan Times, The Mainichi News, The Asahi Evening News, The Yomiuri Daily News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Oakland Tribune'', among others. She is a regular contributor to the "Doubletake" column on multicultural life in ''Wingspan'', All-Nippon Airlines in-flight magazine. For over twenty years, she has been owner of the popular yoga studio Sun and Moon Yoga in Tokyo https://www.sunandmoon.jp, and has taught writing, yoga and mindfulness around the world at many literary and yoga festivals. She graduated from a seven-year intensive program in Vajrayana Buddhism in 2013. She is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher through the Awareness Training Institute and the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkeley https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/who_we_are. She is married to the writer and translator Shogo Oketani, author of ''J-Boys: Kazuo's World, Tokyo, 1965.'' Her work is archived in the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

library's special collection of poetry from Japan.

Honors

*APALA (Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association) Award in Young Adult Literature for Jet Black and the Ninja Wind. *U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission Award for the Translation of Japanese Literature from the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University *

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internation ...

Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Best Book of Poetry *Bay Area Independent Publisher's Association Award *Benjamin Franklin Award for Editorial Excellence for ''A Long Rainy Season'' *PEN Syndicated Fiction Award *Translation Fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

California Arts Council The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento, United States. Its eight council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature. The agency's mission is to advance California through arts, culture and creativi ...

Individual Fellowship in Poetry *

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Independent Scholar Fellowship *Copperfield's Dickens Fiction Award * Barbara Deming Memorial Award in the Novel *''Japanophile'' Fiction Award *''Tokyo Journal'' Fiction Translation Award for ''Leipzig of Light and Color'' by Tawada Yoko (with Gen Watanabe)

Book publications

*''Jet Black and the Winds of Darkness'' (Co-authored with Shogo Oketani, Excalibur Books) *''Awakened Heart: The Prince Who Became The Light'' (Wandering Mind Books) *''Virtuous Heart: Twelve Buddhist Stories to Awaken and Inspire'' (Wandering Mind Books) *''Manoa Journal: Mountain/Home'' (Editor, Univ. of Hawaii Press https://uhpress.hawaii.edu) *''Up from the Sea'' (Crown Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House) *''Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras'' (

) *''Jet Black and the Ninja Wind'' (co-authored with Shogo Oketani, Tuttle Publishing https://www.tuttlepublishing.com) *''Yoga Heart: Lines on the Six Perfections'' (

) *''America and Other Poems'' by Ayukawa Nobuo (co-translated by Shogo Oketani, Kaya Press https://kaya.com) *''Yoga Poems: Lines to Unfold By'' (

) *''Sacred Sanskrit Words: For Yoga, Chant and Meditation'' (

) * ''The Japan Journals'' by

1947-2004 (Editor,

) * ''Designing with Kanji: Japanese Character Motifs for Surface, Skin & Spirit'' (

) *''Violet Obsession'' by Yayoi Kusama (Co-translator, Wandering Mind Books) *''A Long Rainy Season: Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry'' (Volume I,

) * ''Other Side River: Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry'' (Volume II,

) *''Manoa Journal: Silence to Light: Japan and the Shadows of War'' (Editor, Univ. of Hawaii Press https://uhpress.hawaii.edu) * ''Manoa Journal: Towards A Literature of the Periphery'' (Editor, University of Hawaii Press https://uhpress.hawaii.edu) *''Japan: Spirit and Form'' by Shuichi Kato (Tuttle Publishing https://www.tuttlepublishing.com, co-translator with Junko Abe) *''Beautiful Japan: A Souvenir'' (Tuttle Publishing https://www.tuttlepublishing.com) *''Green Tea to Go: Short Stories from Tokyo'' (Printed Matter Press) *''100 Aspects of the Moon: Poems'' (Printed Matter Press) *''Old Ways to Fold New Paper'' (Wandering Mind Books)

Sources

* Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series, Volume 26, Edited by Shelly Andrews (Gale Research, 1997). Entry on Leza Lowitz. Pages 163–184. * Introduction to Mänoa: Fiction from Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 1995) by Frank Stewart. * Introduction to Mänoa: Silence to Light: Japan and the Shadows of War (University of Hawaii Press, 2001) by Frank Stewart. * Collected Tanka of Akitsu Ei, Translated by Miyuki Aoyama and Leza Lowitz
AHA Poetry
2002. * Introduction to A Long Rainy Season: Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry (

, 1994) by Leza Lowitz. * Introduction to Other Side River: Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry (

, 1995) by Leza Lowitz.
Interview with Sascha Hewitt
Natural Healing Center, Tokyo. 2003. * Introduction to The Japan Journals 1947-2004 by

(

, 2004) by Leza Lowitz. * "They Who Render Anew: Japanese-English Literary Translators Reflect Upon Their Calling," Interview by Avery Fischer. (Kyoto Journal), Volume 56, 2004. * "Designing With Kanji: An Interview with Leza Lowitz and Shogo Oketani” Ai-Eye Magazine, Tokyo: January, 2004. * "Midwifing the Underpoem," By Leza Lowitz, The Poem Behind the Poem: Translating Asian Poetry, Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, Washington, 2004. * "Two Pens are Better Than One," interview with Leza Lowitz and Shogo Oketani, The Daily Yomiuri, 2006 by Tom Baker. * Introduction to "America and Other Poems" by Ayukawa Nobuo (Kaya Press, 2008), by Shogo Oketani. * “A Japanese Modernist Poet’s America.” Interview with Shogo Oketani and Leza Lowitz by

Jane Joritz-Nakagawa , born in 1960, is an avant-garde, expatriate American poet and essayist who resides in Japan. She is the author of volumes of poetry, poetry chapbooks, and a poetry broadside. Her poems have appeared in print and online journals and anthol ...

(Society of Writer's Editors and Translators Newsletter, Number 120. Tokyo, July 2008.) * "Getting Green Tea to Go" Interview with Leza Lowitz by Rachel Turner, Being A Broad Magazine, Tokyo, July 2008. * "Modern Japanese Poetry: Two Translations" by Kate McCandless. Pacific Rim Review of Books Victoria, BC, Canada, Issue Nine, Summer 2008.

External links

Leza Lowitz
* ttp://www.stonebridge.com Stone Bridge Pressbr>Delightfully Displaced
Time Magazine review of "

: Japan Journals 1947-2004", edited by Leza Lowitz
'The Japan Journals, 1947-2004': Tokyo Days and Nights
The New York Times review of "

: Japan Journals 1947-2004" edited by Leza Lowitz

Kyoto Journal
Guide to the Leza Lowitz Papers 1982-2005
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowitz, Leza 1962 births Living people American editors American Japanologists San Francisco State University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Academic staff of the University of Tokyo Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni American women non-fiction writers Women orientalists American women academics 21st-century American women