Each year, the Writing University conducts interviews with writers while they are in Iowa City participating in the International Writing Program's fall residency. We sit down with authors to ask about their work, their process and their descriptions of home. Today we are talking with OKAMOTO Kei 岡本啓, a poet from Japan!
OKAMOTO Kei 岡本啓 (poet; Japan) is the author of three poetry books. His debut collection, Graffiti (2014), won two major early-career awards—the Nakahara Chūya Prize and the Mr. H Prize—and his second poetry collection, Zekkei Note (2017), won the prestigious Hagiwara Sakutarō Award. Okamoto also writes essays, designs his own books, and collaborates with artists in creating works for display in museums. He is currently writing a series of poetry reviews and critiques for the newspapers Tokyo Shimbun and Chunichi Shimbun. His participation is made possible by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
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1. Do you have a plan or project in mind for your time at the residency?
Yes, I want to write something. Something fictional, not poetry or novel.
More than 40 Japanese have come to Iowa City since the IWP began. Many poets write their poems here, and many novelists write their memoirs of their stay here. So I want to write something different from them in Japanese. Right now, I'm still dreaming about that something, something that is neither a novel nor a poem. I'm still dreaming about it in my mind. So I'm having a lot of fun with it.
2. What does your daily practice look like for your writing? Do you have a certain time when you write? Any specific routine?
In any case, sleep well. And clear my head.
3. What are you currently reading right now? Are you reading for research or pleasure?
I have brought a book of Japanese translations of Gertrude Stein's play “Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights”. I have not read the original text, but the translation is an excellent translation and brings something new to the Japanese language.
4. What is something the readers and writers of Iowa City should know about you and/or your work?
Just go to the 2024 fall resident section of IWP's website and download the writing sample. Read it, even if only a glimpse of it.
5. Tell us a bit about where you are from -- what are some favorite details you would like to share about your home?
I live in an area of Tokyo with many universities and temples. There is a grave in the neighborhood of a woman with this story. It is the story of a woman who set fire to the town of Edo (Tokyo three hundred years ago) in the hope that she would meet a young man she met during a fire, if the fire broke out again.
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Thank you so much!