Miyazawa Kenji: Selections Volume 5 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520247796)

The poet Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933) was an early twentieth-century Japanese modernist who today is known worldwide for his poetry and stories as well as his devotion to Buddhism. Miyazawa Kenji: Selections collects a wide range of his poetry and provides an excellent introduction to his life and work. Miyazawa was a teacher of agriculture by profession and largely unknown as a poet until after his death. Since then his work has increasingly attracted a devoted following, especially among ecologists, Buddhists, and the literary avant-garde. This volume includes poems translated by Gary Snyder, who was the first to translate a substantial body of Miyazawa's work into English. Hiroaki Sato's own superb translations, many never before published, demonstrate his deep familiarity with Miyazawa's poetry. His remarkable introduction considers the poet's significance and suggests ways for contemporary readers to approach his work. It further places developments in Japanese poetry into a global context during the first decades of the twentieth century. In addition the book features a Foreword by the poet Geoffrey O'Brien and essays by Tanikawa Shuntaro, Yoshimasu Gozo, and Michael O'Brien.

Author: Kenji Miyazawa
ISBN-10: 0520247795
ISBN-13: 9780520247796
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 05/30/2007
Pages: 270
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 8.24h x 5.58w x 0.80d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 05/15/2007 pg. 16