factoringprimes-blog · 2 years ago
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American settlers had left the fences of the Old World in search of freedom, making it imperative for them to accept loneliness as a basic condition of life. Perhaps more than an ideology, it was a faith. And what could fortify a human being against life’s adversities better than faith?
An I-Novel by Minae Mizumura and Juliet Winters Carpenter
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yes-i-read-sappho · 3 months ago
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So you want to read "No Longer Human"
One of the things that fascinates me most in this world is translation, and when it comes to reading literature not originally in English I always wonder how accurate what I'm really reading is, especially seeing how much a work can vary from translation to translation.
With this in mind, I set out with a friend to read all three official English translations of Osamu Dazai's Ningen Shinkkaku (best known in English as No Longer Human) in order to figure out which one was the best.
DISCLAIMER: I do not read Japanese so my ability to comment on the actual accuracy to the original text is limited, so most of what I am saying here is based in the readability in English etc. (That being said, if you know more about the original and the accuracy to the original of any of the translations below PLEASE let me know I would be so so interested.)
With no further ado, here are the translations in the order I read them:
1. No Longer Human, trans. Donald Keene (1958)
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This translation is easily the most familiar to English speakers (for BSD fans, this is where you can find "page 21, 'Mine has been a life of much shame.'") The main pro of this translation is that is very easily accessible in the literal sense. On top of this, the writing style is relatively easy to understand, if a bit antiquated (see: published 1958).
Unfortunately, while much of the vagueness in this book is almost definitely a consequence of Dazai's own writing, this translation is far from perfect. When discussing it with my friend, we realized that a confusing scene (pages 153-154 in the paperback) actually appears to be a consequence of a mistranslation, as both of the other translations we read presented the same contrary interpretation.
Overall, Keene's translation is fine but can feel incomplete.
2. A Shameful Life (Ningen Shikkaku), trans. Mark Gibeau (2018)
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New title alert!
Gibeau's translation felt more complete than Keene's (and I may have gone a little insane using my limited Japanese knowledge to see if a single detail was accurate which it did appear to be). The only real downside to this translation was the lack of italics used within the text, which made it a bit more difficult to follow at times when it came to the character's inner thoughts. That being said, I actually like this as a literary device, especially given that the framing of the novel is in the form of personal journals.
What really made this version stand out to me, however, wasn't necessarily the translation itself, but how the translator addresses it. This book provides a translator's afterward (rather than an introduction as in the other two) where Gibeau gets into the historical and cultural context necessary to really understand the novel, including the I-novel literary movement and Dazai's own life. This really helps readers (especially those less familiar with Japanese history and culture) to really understand some of the nuances of the novel, while the placement at the end - pointedly - first allows the text to stand on its own. Also, in addition to the afterward, Gibeau also provides a brief "Note on the Current Translation," where he explains the merits of multiple translations and a bit of his own process/experience translating, which I enjoyed reading.
3. No Longer Human, trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter (2023)
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(I don't know why this cover image is massive but oh well.)
Most of what I remember about this translation is wanting to like it more than I did. I was excited to read a translation by a woman because of how female characters are treated in the novel, but I do not remember there being a distinct difference. (The only notable difference was in the specificity of the language used at one point in the first journal, but this wasn't related to gender and I'm not going to get into it here.)
This translation initially endeared itself to me by directly referencing Bungo Stray Dogs in the introduction for its role in increasing the popularity of the novel among English speaking fans (even though Winters Carpenter somewhat misrepresents the series), but the introduction as a whole does very little to contextualize the novel, especially not compared to Gibeau.
Broadly speaking, I found this translation forgettable.
In conclusion,
I would recommend Gibeau's translation over the other two. However, each translation has its advantages and disadvantages, and you will still get the story from all of them if that's what you care about most.
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swanmaids · 3 months ago
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Recent reads - women in translation
Child of Fortune - Tsushima Yuko, 1978, tr. Geraldine Harcourt
Orignally published in Japanese. A single mother with a difficult relationship with her 11 year old daughter finds herself pregnant again after an affair. A dreamy and flashback-centred short story of motherhood and alienation.
The Mermaid’s Tale - Lee Wei-Jing, 2019, tr. Darryl Sterk
Originally published in Mandarin. A lonely woman in her thirties with an obsessive love for Latin dance attempts to make peace with her past and her body. Blends the whimsical and the excruciatingly real.
Consent - Vanessa Springora, 2020, tr. Natasha Lehrer
Originally published in French. A wrenching memoir of the author's sexual abuse by a celebrated author as a teenage girl, and the culture that colluded with her abuser. Devastating.
A Woman of Pleasure - Murata Kiyoko, 2013, tr. Juliet Winters Carpenter
Originally published in Japanese. In 1903, a teenage girl tries to survive after being sold into sex work. The novel's brutality makes its moments of light even more poignant.
Masks - Enchi Fumiko, 1958, tr. Juliet Winters Carpenter
Both a novel of tragedy and manipulation and an exploration of the role of women in noh theatrical tradition and the Tale of Genji. Lingers in the mind long after reading.
Abandon - Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, 2013, tr. Arunava Sinha
Originally published in Bengali. A mother's conflict between caring for her sickly young son and her desire to abandon motherhood to pursue her art is personified by two narrations by the same "character". A fascinating self-referential novel that raises many questions on the conflicts between art and humanity.
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peonyblossom · 5 months ago
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Ships I'll Write For
for reference :)
Pixelberry
Alpha
m!Channing Lowe x m!MC (Kalani Mochizuki)
America's Most Eligible
Carson Stewart x f!MC (Juliet James)
Blades of Light and Shadow
Nia Ellarious x f!human!MC (Iris of Riverbend)
Valax x f!human!MC (Iris of Riverbend)
Mal Volari x Tyril Starfury
Mal Volari x Tyril Starfury x m!elf!MC (Hades Nightbloom)
Bloodbound
Adrian Raines x Gaius Augustine
Dirty Little Secrets
m!Carpenter (Emmett King) x m!MC (Brooklyn Peters)
High School Story
Wes Porter x Ezra Mitchell
Payton Saunders x f!MC (Lola Williams)
Michael Harrison x nb!MC (Jamie Baxter)
Mia Warren x Katherine
Ajay Bhandari x m!MC (Matty Wright)
Hollywood U
Thomas Hunt x f/nb!MC (Jackie Winters)
Hot Couture
Marco Di Vincenzo x f!MC (Analise Moore)
Immortal Desires
m!Cas x m!Gabe x nb!MC (Reese O'Malley)
Lewyn Junius x m!OC (Jude Junius)
It Lives Anthology
Noah Marshall x m!MC (Harry Spear)
Noah Marshall x Connor Green
Connor Green x m!MC (Jesse Harrison)
Ava Cunningham x f!MC (Raven Adams)
Stacy Green x f!MC (Ivy Lovelace)
Imogen Wescott x f!MC (Fiona Vance)
Tom Sato x m!MC (River Vance)
Danni Asturias x f!MC (Merliah Vance)
Abel Flint x nb!MC (Ollie Bridgers)
Lincoln Aquino x nb!MC (Keagan Burke)
Amalia de León x nb!MC (Lottie Hamilton)
Jocelyn Wu x f!MC (Eleanor Wilkins) (slowburn)
Matthias McQuoid x m!OC (Ezra Wilkins)
Laws of Attraction
Gabe Ricci x Aislinn Tanaka x nb!MC (Sav Zarza)
Open Heart
Ethan Ramsey x m!MC (Sydney Valentine)
Ethan Ramsey x Tobias Carrick
Aurora Emery x Sienna Trinh
Queen B
Zoey Wade x f!MC (Quinn Hughes)
Ian Kingsley x f!MC (Quinn Hughes)
Untameable Anthology
m!Kit Jackson x m!MC (Jules Rojas)
Mandy Martinez x Ryder Wilson x m!MC (Barrett Kemp)
Gravity Falls
Stan Pines x Reader
Stan Pines x nb!OC (JD Willows)
Ford Pines x Fiddleford McGucket
Grey's Anatomy/Station 19
Mark Sloan x Jackson Avery x Lexi Grey
Mark Sloan x Jackson Avery
Meredith Grey x Derek Shepherd
Meredith Grey x Andy Herrera
Victoria Hughes x Lucas Ripley
Izzie Stevens x Denny Duquette
Ben Warren x Miranda Bailey
Cristina Yang x Teddy Altman
Maya Bishop x Carina DeLuca
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bookclub4m · 5 months ago
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45 New & Forthcoming Indie Press Books by BIPOC Authors 
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Fiction
Weird Black Girls: Stories by Elwin Cotman (AK Press)
False Idols: A Reluctant King Novel by K’Wan (Akashic Books)
Sister Deborah by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Mark Polizzotti (Archipelago Books)
Bad Land by Corinna Chong (Arsenal Pulp Press)
These Letters End in Tears by Musih Tedji Xaviere (Catapult)
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (Catapult)
Cecilia by K-Ming Chang (Coffee House Press)
Fog & Car by Eugene Lim (Coffee House Press)
We’re Safe When We’re Alone by Nghiem Tran (Coffee House Press)
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (Counterpoint Press)
Bad Seed by Gabriel Carle, translated by Heather Houde (Feminist Press)
The Default World by Naomi Kanakia (Feminist Press)
The Singularity by Balsam Karam, translated by Saskia Vogel (Feminist Press)
I'll Give You a Reason by Annell López (Feminist Press)
Tongueless by Lau Yee-Wa, translated by Jennifer Feeley (Feminist Press)
Outcaste by Sheila James (Goose Lane Editions)
Silken Gazelles by Jokha Alharthi, translated by Marilyn Booth (House of Anansi Press)
Dad, I Miss You by Nadia Sammurtok, illustrated by Simji Park (Inhabit Media)
Secrets of the Snakestone by Pia DasGupta (Nosy Crow)
The Burrow by Melanie Cheng (Tin House)
Masquerade by Mike Fu (Tin House)
The World With Its Mouth Open: Stories by Zahid Rafiq (Tin House)
I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both by Mariah Stovall (Soft Skull Press)
Non-Fiction
RAPilates: Body and Mind Conditioning in the Digital Age by Chuck D and Kathy Lopez (Akashic Books)
All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey by Teresa Wong (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Dispersals: On Plants, Borders, and Belonging by Jessica J. Lee (Catapult)
My Pisces Heart: A Black Immigrant's Search for Home Across Four Continents by Jennifer Neal  (Catapult)
Beyond the Mountains: An Immigrant's Inspiring Journey of Healing and Learning to Dance with the Universe by Deja Vu Prem (Catapult)
Out of the Sierra: A Story of Rarámuri Resistance by Victoria Blanco (Coffee House Press)
Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha LaPointe (Counterpoint Press)
Born to Walk: My Journey of Trials and Resilience by Alpha Nkuranga (Goose Lane Editions)
Jinny Yu (At Once/À La Fois) by Jinny Yu (Goose Lane Editions)
Log Off: Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross (LittlePuss Press)
Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian’s Journey Home by Chris La Tray (Milkweed Editions)
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments  by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Milkweed Editions)
Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life by Sofia Samatar (Soft Skull Press)
The Story Game by Shze-Hui Tjoa (Tin House)
Black Meme: The History of the Images That Make Us by Legacy Russell (Verso Books)
Poetry
i heard a crow before i was born by Jules Delorme (Goose Lane Editions)
We the Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word edited by Franny Choi, Bao Phi, Noʻu Revilla, and Terisa Siagatonu (Haymarket Books)
A Map of My Want by Faylita Hicks (Haymarket Books)
[...] by Fady Joudah (Milkweed Editions)
Comics
A Witch’s Guide to Burning by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)
Oba Electroplating Factory by Yoshiharu Tsuge (Drawn & Quarterly)
Lost at Windy River by  Jillian Dolan, Trina Rathgeber and Alina Pete (Orca Books)
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quotation--marks · 23 days ago
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‘That was when the sight of Mount Fuji hurt most, during those five months, but I always felt as though I had to look. Day after day I would go up somewhere high to stare at it. The mountain seemed like a snow goddess, clutching Akio tightly to her and refusing to give him up. ‘How cold her arms must be,’ I thought, feeling the chill in my own body; then little by little it would give way to a delicious kind of warmth, like being pleasantly drunk. I thought that freezing to death must be like that. The days turned slowly into months, and at last, when the notice came that they had found him, I hardly had the courage to go and look.’
Fumiko Enchi, Masks (trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter)
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smokefalls · 11 months ago
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You can’t bring wild things where folks live! Wild is wild, folks are folks. Don’t ever forget we’re visitors on the mountains, or you’ll earn the wrath of the gods.
Shion Miura, The Easy Life in Kamusari (translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter)
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certifiedlibraryposts · 1 year ago
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I don't know about you but I looooooove leaving a library with more books than you were expecting, it feels like giving yourself a little present hehe
I went with the intention of just picking up my holds on Men and Arms by Terry Pratchett (Guards! Guards! was so good I'm so excited for this) and Yellowface by R. F. Kuang, two books I've heard very good things about for very different reasons.
On my way to the holds shelf, I saw a book on the display shelves called Sounds Fake But Okay by Sarah Costello and Kayla Kaszyca, it's a book about asexuality and aromanticism!! I identify as ace and I nearly cried from happiness seeing it! I've been pretty secure in my identity for a good number of years but it took me a long time to even learn that vocabulary, and some more to realize that it applied to me. Knowing that there are books on it that will just show up right at the front of the library for people to immediately see...that's just so incredibly meaningful to me.
Finally on a whim I decided to stop by the "M" section in fiction to check if they had any of the Locked Tomb books in hope of picking up Nona the Ninth (Sidenote I just finished Harrow the Ninth last night [borrowed from a different library]......yall The Locked Tomb is insane and SO good highly recommend). Sadly they didn't, but! A book called The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shio Miura (translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter) caught my eye and I decided to pick that up as well without knowing anything about it. As I can recall I've never read a book translated from a different language before, so I'm very interested to check this one out!
I might have to renew a few of these before I get all the way through, but such is life. I'd always love to hear any of your good library finds!
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jpf-sydney · 1 year ago
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The Easy Life in Kamusari
Book review:
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Somewhat predictable but still an immensly charming forestchange bildungsdroman.
Nonplussed by mediocre results, fresh high school graduate and Yokohama city-boy, Yuki Hirano is unperturbed by his lack of career prospects. The same cannot be said for his parents and a teacher who saw this coming a mile off. Somehow, they have conspired to register Yuki into a forestry trainee program in a far-off, barely accessible village. It would be assumed that Yuki might have a dissenting say but a little blackmail and household severance later and he has been packed off on his way. This happens within the first 5 pages.
This short novel is written in first person from the perspective of Yuki. Typing away his boredom into a primitive offline PC, he recounts his adventures after having worked and survived a year in his new home. Besides the exponential learning curve of skilled manual labour, each moment is filled with new experiences from the bucolic, near alien traditions and customs observed by the village to the different aspects of natural scenery that abounds. 
Just when the pattern of work and festivals might be starting to wear thin comes the climactic event. Every 48 years the village observes a special ceremony and chooses a 1000 year old tree to fell. Normally a prohibited action but one that the village has been granted dispensation for. Not that cutting the tree down after hiking up a mountainside in the dark and cold is the main difficulty. There is the dubious reassurance that only 8 people have died in the event's recorded history.
This story has been adapted into the magnificently titled WOOD JOB! It featured in the 2014 Japanese Film Festival and the odd special screening at our centre. The original novel differs from the theatrical film but the underlying theme and unique setting make the two versions unmistakably the same story. Besides being packed with scenery candy, the fact the film exists means that the climax does too and the nigh unfilmable ending stunt is given a remarkable realisation. Those who enjoyed The Easy Life in Kamusari but felt it could do with fleshing out are apparently numerous enough as there is now a sequel Kamusari Tales Told at Night still narrated by the fish out of water Yuki.
Shelf: 913.6 MIU [Kamusari nānā nichijō. English]. The easy life in Kamusari. Shion Miura ; translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter.
Seattle, Wash. : Amazon Crossing, 2021. ISBNs: 9781542027151 (hardcover) ; 9781542027168 (paperback)
189 pages ; 21 cm. (In the forest series)
Originally published in Japan in 2012 as “Kamusari nānā nichijō” by Tokuma Shoten.
Translated into English from the Japanese.
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lizzie-wendigo · 2 years ago
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Well, I want to start the year with this drawing. This is my vision of "my perfect day": Me in my room next to my window, with a relaxing scene of the rain, while drawing, drinking a hot Taro latte, listening to my favorite songs 
I want to share my playlist, all the songs I like to listen to while drawing. I do like to divide my playlist into 2, one with mixed genres with lyrics, and another where only instrumentals and classics are found; So from time to time I like to change the playlist
If you are one of those artists who likes to listen to music while drawing, you may find one in my playlist that you like and add it to yours. You can also comment which song from my playlist you would like to add to yours and share your playlist with me in the comments, I'm curious
-REGULAR PLAYLIST:
Can't Sleep Love- Pentatonix
Troublemaker-Troublemaker
Breakbot- My toy
Imase- Night Dancer
Schüttel Deinen Speck- Peter Fox
Sugar-Maroon 5
Remember the Time- Michael Jackson
Fairytale- Alexander Rybak
Will Smith- Men in Black
Shirley Bassey- Get this party started
Citizen Soldier- Halleluja
Avril Lavinge- Love Sux
Get Down- Backstreet boys
Finesse- Bruno mars & Cardi B
Lady Gaga- Alejandro
You're a Mean One Mr Grinch- Sabrina Carpenter ft Lindsey Stirling
Let Me Be Your Superhero- Smach Into Pie
Let's get started- The Black Eyed Peas
Black Horse and Cherry Tea- Eye to Telescope
Los Claxons- Ahi estaré
-INSTRUMENTAL PLAYLIST:
Danse Macabre (Rock Version)
Winter- Paul Halley (The Maker)
The phantom of the Opera- Prague Cello Quartet
Beethoven Virus
Mozart- Dies Irae (Rock Version)
Paint it, Black (Cello Version)
Can-Can- Offenbach
Super Mario Galaxy- Comet Observatory 2
Paganini- La Campanella
Howl's Moving Castle Theme
Kindom Dance- Tangled (Extended)
Grieg- In the Hall Of the Mountain King
Tchaikovsky- Romeo and Juliet Love Theme
Super Mario Galaxy 2- Puzzle Plank Galaxy
Vivaldi- Storm (Rock Version)
The Egg Travels (Dinosaur 2000)
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aboutdjcs · 2 years ago
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djcs.free [at] gmail.com CV b. 1994 in New Plymouth, New Zealand.  DJCS is an artist and curator from Ngāmotu. They are interested in the production of political subjectivities, dreams, and violence in postcolonial world(s), and make use of art to redistribute care, belonging and value. DJCS is the director of Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Previously they were an assistant curator at Artspace Aotearoa, and were the founder of artist-run gallery Parasite, Tāmaki Makaurau. DJCS has worked in public, private and artist-run galleries since 2012, and curated independent exhibitions and events across Aotearoa. Education: BFA, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, NZ Solo & Duo Exhibitions: 2023       Backdirt (w Priscilla Rose Howe), The Physics Room, Christchurch, NZ 2022     Broken Sovereignty, Lightship, Auckland, NZ   Becoming Animals, Play_Station, Wellington, NZ 2021       Urban Nothing, RM Gallery and Project Space, Auckland, NZ 2019       Intimate Atmospheres, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ 2018       After Jack, Window, Auckland, NZ After Carmen, Meanwhile, Auckland, NZ Group Exhibitions: 2022       Twisting, turning, winding, Objectspace, Auckland, NZ Wild Once More, Te Tuhi, Auckland, NZ 2020      Social Practice, Auckland, NZ Queer Pavilion, Auckland, NZ 2018       Under Your Skin You Look Divine, Basement Specialist Adult Store and Cruise Club, Auckland, NZ 2017       I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, because I don't hate you; I love you (curated by Misal Adnan Yildiz),  Artspace Aotearoa with Michael Lett, Auckland, NZ Curatorial: 2024 Paul Johns: Beautiful Flowers and How to Grow Them, The Dowse (via City Gallery Wellington), Wellington, NZ Alexandra McFarlane: Extraordinary Contact, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Wellington, NZ Justice for Palestine: Gaza: the Soul of Souls,  Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Wellington, NZ Te Waka Hourua: Whītiki, Mātike, Whakatika, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space, Wellington, NZ 2022 Ciwas Tahos (Anchi Lin): mgluw tuqiy na Temahahoi/malahang cu awusa Temahahoi na tu’uy/Finding pathways to Temahahoi, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland; The Physics Room, Christchurch, NZ Cushla Donaldson with Quentin Lind: Neighbourhood of Truth, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland; City Gallery Wellington, Wellington; Christchurch Art Gallery, Christchurch, NZ Tobias Allen: The Tableau of Two Throats, S&M's Cocktail Lounge, Wellington, NZ Prairie's Drama Club, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ Alexandra McFarlane: Nina’s Dance, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ The Killing: ILYSM, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ Hana Pera Aoake: te tamaiti te ao, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ IM/PERFECT, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ Nayan Patel, Parasite, Auckland, NZ 2021 Bronte Perry: Guilty Pleasures, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ Apexalternativeconcubine, Angel Fitzgerald, Priscilla Rose Howe, Xi Li, Ming Ranginui, Obadiah Russon & Anto Yeldezian: Cruel Optimism, Artspace Aotearoa, Auckland, NZ Deborah Rundle: On My Volcano Grows the Grass, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Laura Duffy: Maybe someone is starting to bloom, Parasite, Auckland, NZ p.Walters: New World Daughter; a sterile sermon on the vile waha of a fuckin' leitī, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Obadiah Russon: Splitting Lips, Limbs and Eyes, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Xun Cao: Command & Conquer: The Covert Sculpture, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Owen Connors, Nayan Patel & Aliyah Winter: Salon De La Mort, Auckland Art Fair, Auckland, NZ 2020 Owen Connors: For Future Breeders, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Nayan Patel: Still Life, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Samuel Te Kani: Daddy, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Aliyah Winter: Hypno.Matrix, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Ali Senescall: As Above So Below, Parasite, Auckland, NZ Ali Senescall, Tash Keddy & Samuel Te Kani: On Rat Bones, May Fair Art Fair, Auckland, NZ Tash Keddy: Grind House, Parasite, Auckland, NZ 2018 val smith, Jordana Bragg, Tash Keddy, Lila Bullen-Smith, Owen Connors, Aliyah Winter, Abbey Gamit, Richard Orjis, Juliet Carpenter with George Banach-Salas, Ary Jansen, Samuel Te Kani, Jessica Morgan, Alice Senescall, Jaimee Stockman-Young, Magdalena Hoult, Natasha Matila-Smith, Hera Wing, DJCS: Under Your Skin You Look Divine, Basement Specialist Adult Store and Cruise Club, Auckland, NZ 2017 Abby Gamit, Allyson Hambert, Tommo Jiang, Samuel Te Kani, Bronte Perry, Pati Solomona Tyrell, Jaimee Stockman Young: The Windows Are Alive, Auckland Pride Festival, Auckland, NZ 2016 Penny Goring, Aurelia Guo, Orion Facey, Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle, George Watson, Jack Hadley, Cristine Brache, Clara Chon, Katherine Botton, Hana Pera Aoake, Owen Connors: NSFW, New Zealand Fashion Week, Auckland, NZ Lila Bullen-Smith, Ashleigh Fanauga Tofa, Hipera Kelly, Jessica Robins, Nadine Paredes, Tommo Jiang, Quishile Charan, Talei Yates, Uma Tuffnell: dorf, White Night, Auckland Central Library, Auckland, NZ Ashley Fanuga Tofa, Bridget Rigger, Brittany French, Cameron Ah Loo-Matamua, Dan Nash, Emilie Rākete, Faith Wilson, Hana Pera Aoake, Haley Jean, Jennifer Katherine Shields, Hera Wing, Jess Francis, Lana Lopesi, Lila Bullen-Smith, Mya Middleton, Piu Piu Maya Turei, Quishile Charan, Robin Murphy, Ruby Papāli’i-Curtin, Sacha Donnell, Samuel Te Kani, Theo Macdonald, Tash Keddy, Dreary Modern Life, Hapori, Hashtag500words, Parahistory, Yoursdankley: Bus of Tales, White Night, Auckland Central Library, Auckland, NZ 2015 Mobile Library, White Night, Auckland Central Library, Auckland, NZ Residencies & Grants: 2021 Creative New Zealand Arts Grant 2020 Creative New Zealand Arts Continuity Grant 2019 Artist-in-residence, RM Gallery, Auckland, NZ
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whilereadingandwalking · 3 years ago
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In The Easy Life in Kamusari by Shion Miura, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter, a young man just out of high school is pushed into a forestry job in a remote village in the mountains by his parents, who are determined to get him out of the house. At first, he's overwhelmed by the work and deathly bored by the village. But as he slowly gets to know the town, from one protective dog to his impulsive, wild host Yoki to the town's ancient legends and inexplicable traditions, the place begins to grow on him—and he begins to want to prove himself to it in return. 
This sweet coming-of-age story hit bookshelves on November 2. At turns touching and absurdly funny, the inventive novel is a love letter to the art of forestry and the majesty of trees, and is a perfect, easy read: sweet, cheery, and humorous, yet full of adventure. 
I was sent a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. It was one of the books I highlighted in my 12 must-read Japanese books in translation.
Content warnings for mention of suicide.
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heavenlyyshecomes · 4 years ago
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“Social Darwinism, which saw Western civilization as the pinnacle of human evolution, was applied to writing systems as well, suggesting that human writing evolved from ideograms to phonograms. Among the varieties of phonograms, syllabaries like hiragana and katakana that combine a consonant and a vowel in one letter were considered less evolved. Those that separate consonants and vowels and thus are closer to phonetic signs were considered more developed, and somehow the Roman alphabet was given a privileged status. (It is perhaps no accident that powerful Western nations happened to use the Roman alphabet and not Cyrillic.) In other words, social Darwinism was inextricably connected to phoneticism or, more precisely, what would a century later be criticized as “phonocentrism”—an understanding of language that gives primacy to spoken language as a spontaneous expression of the human mind, thus reducing written language to the status of mere representation of spoken sounds.”
—Minae Mizumura, The Fall of Language in the Age of English, tr. Mari Yoshihara & Juliet Winters Carpenter
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bookclub4m · 5 months ago
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Episode 194 - Indie Publishers
This episode we’re discussing the topic(?) of Indie Publishers! We talk about how to define an indie publisher, weirdo metro stories, song lyrics, and more!
You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system.
In this episode
Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray 🦇 | Jam Edwards
Join our Discord Server!
Things We Read (or tried to…)
Trial of the Clone: An Interactive Adventure! by Zach Weinersmith and Chris Jones
Any Other City by Hazel Jane Plante
Songs of Love, Death and Pleasure by Hazel Jane Plante
Video of the reading that Jam bought their books at last year!
A Short Journey by Car by Liam Durcan
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli
Hope in the Dark: The Untold History of People Power by Rebecca Solnit
Of Thunder & Lightning by Kimberly Wang
Other Media We Mentioned
What About Crowdfunded Comics? by Matthew Murray 🦇 and Mara L. Thacker
Podcast version
How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler's Memoir by Amber Dawn
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weinersmith
The Platform Edge: Uncanny Tales of the Railways edited by Mike Ashley
When I Arrived at the Castle by E. M. Carroll
Boy Island by Leo Fox
Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science Fiction and Fantasy from Transgender Writers edited by Cat Fitzpatrick and Casey Plett
Links, Articles, and Things
Image Comics (Wikipedia)
Creative Commons
SkyTrain (Vancouver) (Wikipedia)
Oulipo (Wikipedia)
Podcast episode where one host tries not to say the letter “e”
Denver Small Press Fest
Spaghettieis (Wikipedia)
“spaghetti ice cream”
45 New & Forthcoming Indie Press Books by BIPOC Authors 
Every month Book Club for Masochists: A Readers’ Advisory Podcasts chooses a genre at random and we read and discuss books from that genre. We also put together book lists for each episode/genre that feature works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, & People of Colour) authors. All of the lists can be found here.
Fiction
Weird Black Girls: Stories by Elwin Cotman (AK Press)
False Idols: A Reluctant King Novel by K’Wan (Akashic Books)
Sister Deborah by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Mark Polizzotti (Archipelago Books)
Bad Land by Corinna Chong (Arsenal Pulp Press)
These Letters End in Tears by Musih Tedji Xaviere (Catapult)
The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (Catapult)
Cecilia by K-Ming Chang (Coffee House Press)
Fog & Car by Eugene Lim (Coffee House Press)
We’re Safe When We’re Alone by Nghiem Tran (Coffee House Press)
A Woman of Pleasure by Kiyoko Murata, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter (Counterpoint Press)
Bad Seed by Gabriel Carle, translated by Heather Houde (Feminist Press)
The Default World by Naomi Kanakia (Feminist Press)
The Singularity by Balsam Karam, translated by Saskia Vogel (Feminist Press)
I'll Give You a Reason by Annell López (Feminist Press)
Tongueless by Lau Yee-Wa, translated by Jennifer Feeley (Feminist Press)
Outcaste by Sheila James (Goose Lane Editions)
Silken Gazelles by Jokha Alharthi, translated by Marilyn Booth (House of Anansi Press)
Dad, I Miss You by Nadia Sammurtok, illustrated by Simji Park (Inhabit Media)
Secrets of the Snakestone by Pia DasGupta (Nosy Crow)
The Burrow by Melanie Cheng (Tin House)
Masquerade by Mike Fu (Tin House)
The World With Its Mouth Open: Stories by Zahid Rafiq (Tin House)
I Love You So Much It's Killing Us Both by Mariah Stovall (Soft Skull Press)
Non-Fiction
RAPilates: Body and Mind Conditioning in the Digital Age by Chuck D and Kathy Lopez (Akashic Books)
All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey by Teresa Wong (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Dispersals: On Plants, Borders, and Belonging by Jessica J. Lee (Catapult)
My Pisces Heart: A Black Immigrant's Search for Home Across Four Continents by Jennifer Neal  (Catapult)
Beyond the Mountains: An Immigrant's Inspiring Journey of Healing and Learning to Dance with the Universe by Deja Vu Prem (Catapult)
Out of the Sierra: A Story of Rarámuri Resistance by Victoria Blanco (Coffee House Press)
Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha LaPointe (Counterpoint Press)
Born to Walk: My Journey of Trials and Resilience by Alpha Nkuranga (Goose Lane Editions)
Jinny Yu (At Once/À La Fois) by Jinny Yu (Goose Lane Editions)
Log Off: Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix by Katherine Cross (LittlePuss Press)
Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian’s Journey Home by Chris La Tray (Milkweed Editions)
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments  by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Milkweed Editions)
Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life by Sofia Samatar (Soft Skull Press)
The Story Game by Shze-Hui Tjoa (Tin House)
Black Meme: The History of the Images That Make Us by Legacy Russell (Verso Books)
Poetry
i heard a crow before i was born by Jules Delorme (Goose Lane Editions)
We the Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word edited by Franny Choi, Bao Phi, Noʻu Revilla, and Terisa Siagatonu (Haymarket Books)
A Map of My Want by Faylita Hicks (Haymarket Books)
[...] by Fady Joudah (Milkweed Editions)
Comics
A Witch’s Guide to Burning by Aminder Dhaliwal (Drawn & Quarterly)
Oba Electroplating Factory by Yoshiharu Tsuge (Drawn & Quarterly)
Lost at Windy River by  Jillian Dolan, Trina Rathgeber and Alina Pete (Orca Books)
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Join us again on Tuesday, June 4th we’ll be discussing non-fiction Pop Culture!
Then on Tuesday, June 18th it’s time once again for One Book One Podcast as we each pitch a book we think we should read and you (the listeners) get to vote!
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quotation--marks · 3 months ago
Text
With that the two friends fell abruptly into a solemn silence, eye to eye. Neither could make out any reflection in the eyes of the other. And there was a bleak weariness in the dull realisation that they would see nothing, however long they might wait. 
Fumiko Enchi, Masks (trans. Juliet Winters Carpenter)
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smokefalls · 11 months ago
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Title: The Easy Life in Kamusari Author: Shion Miura Translator: Juliet Winters Carpenter Publication Year of Translation: 2021 Publisher: Amazon Crossing Genre: fiction, YA
As the title suggests, this coming-of-age novel was easygoing, following Yuki Hirano to the mountains of Japan. Yuki is incredibly displeased that he has to leave his comfortable city life because his parents signed him up for a forestry training program, but eventually discovers the joys of the Kamusari villagers' lifestyle and principles.
This was somewhat of a predictable novel, but it was a comforting and illuminating read that was reminiscent of Studio Ghibli films. (I especially think of Isao Takahata's films more than Miyazaki's, to be honest.) Comforting, in the sense that you get the small joys in life that are so often highlighted. Illuminating, in the sense that you get insight into a deeply important subculture of Japan.
I will say that I was a little annoyed with how forgiving people were of a side character's infidelity. I was also a bit taken aback when I saw that a prize for one festival was the chance to sleep with any woman in the village (even if this isn't enforced). I suppose this might speak to a remote village's old-fashioned beliefs/customs, but these were my main issues.
Content Warning: fire, infidelity, death
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