Sylvia Watanabe is an American writer of

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

origin. She obtained a BA from the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

and an MA from

Binghamton University The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public university, public research university in Binghamton metropolitan area, Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four uni ...

. Her collection of ten short stories, ''Talking to the Dead'' received acclaim for a number of those pieces, and led the title story to become included among five finalists nominated for the 1993 PEN Faulkner Award. In, "Change and Tragedy in a Hawaiian Village," it was reviewed by R.A. Sasaki in the September 6, 1992, San Francisco Chronicle, regarding the tensions between culture and tradition and change and modernization. She has also received an

NEA fellowship 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 feder ...

, a Josephine Miles

PEN Oakland PEN Oakland is a branch of PEN, an international literary and human rights organization. PEN Oakland was founded in 1989 by Ishmael Reed and co-founders Floyd Salas, Claire Ortalda and Reginald Lockett. PEN Oakland annually sponsors the PEN Oaklan ...

award, and an

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

grant. Watanabe's writings have also appeared in numerous anthologies, including those for the O. Henry Award and the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

. Watanabe is also noted for her work on

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

fiction. Along with the late publisher Carol Bruchac, she co-edited two volumes of Asian American fiction titled ''Home to Stay'' and ''Into the Fire''. She was an assistant professor in creative writing at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, promoted to professor for the 2015-2016 academic year, but has since retired.

Personal

Watanabe was born in

Wailuku, Maui Wailuku is a census-designated place (CDP) in and county seat of Maui Island, Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 17,697 at the 2020 census. Wailuku is located just west of Kahului, at the mouth of the Iao Valley. In the e ...

, in 1953. She was raised in Kailua, Oahu. Her grandfather was a Presbyterian Minister for 35 years in Maui, who despite that, was interned in a Second World War camp in New Mexico. She earned a B.A. degree in Art History from the University of Hawaii in 1980, and a Master's in creative writing and English from

SUNY Binghamton The State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton University or SUNY Binghamton) is a public research university in Greater Binghamton, New York, United States. It is one of the four university centers in the State University of New Y ...

in 1985. Her husband, William Osborne, taught in Michigan.

External sources

Michigan Writers Series, Sylvia Watanabe, Audio interview March 16, 2001

References

1953 births Living people American short story writers American women writers University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Binghamton University alumni People from Oahu 21st-century American women {{US-fiction-writer-stub