Room 1 – Poetry
C.E.J. (Christopher) Simons
Fukushima Narratives: Form, Style, and Supernatural Landscapes (Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: photography, poetry, disaster, landscape, form
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Suzanne Kamata
Writing for Emerging Readers
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: fiction, writing, emerging readers, EFL, ESL
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Room 1 – Poetry
Paul Rossiter & Isobar Press Poets
The Year’s Work at Isobar
(Group Reading with Q&A)
Keywords: poetry from Japan
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Brennan Conaway
year84: The Newspeak ‘Translation’ of Nineteen Eighty-Four
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: year84, 1984, Newspeak, Nineteen Eight-Four, Orwell
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Room 1 – Poetry
Philip Rowland
Creating Publishable Short Form Poetry (Part 2)
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: short form poetry, editing, publishing
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Richard Evanoff
Transcultural Writing and the Thorny Problem of Cultural Appropriation
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: transcultural writing, cultural hybridity, cultural appropriation
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Patrick Murphrey
Not An Impossible Dream
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: motivation, marketing, inspiration
Lunch Break
Room 1 – Poetry
Alexandra Corrin Tachibana
Crafted Disturbance: Writing the Zuihitsu
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: Zuihitsu, form, craft, fragmented, hybrid
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Tatsuhiro Yamane, Trishit Banerjee, and Swastika Harsh Jajoo
The FONT of Revitalization: Storytelling & Tourism
Keywords: Fukushima, storytelling, tourism
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
David Joiner & Karen Hill Anton
Two Writers in Conversation: The Value of Correspondence
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: correspondence, professional development, support, community, motivation
Room 1 – Poetry
Mohamad Kebbewar
The Impact of Free Verse on Our Fast-Moving World
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: aleppo, war poems, creativity helps healing, reading poems to create awareness
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Sara Ellis
Stories in Flux: A Cross-Genre Approach to Climate Fiction
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: climate fiction, solarpunk, hopepunk, climate memoir
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Karen Hill Anton
Getting into Print: One Writer’s Journey
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: publishing, columns, essays, memoir, novel
Room 1 – Poetry
Philip Meersman
Dive into Deep POV: Crafting Emotionally Resonant Poetry
(Craft Workshop)
Keywords: deep Point of View (POV), poetry, performance, audience engagement, emotional well-being
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Charles Kowalski
The Time Traveler’s Guidebook: Tips and Traps in Historical Fiction Writing
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: fiction, historical fiction
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Pauline Baird
Be Seen and Be Heard: Building So They Will Come
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: whispered stories, forgotten traditions, social networks
Saturday Night Gathering
Register HERE by OCT 18th
ROOM 1
Poetry
ROOM 2
Fiction & Nonfiction
ROOM 3
Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
09:15-10:05
Fukushima Narratives: Form, Style, and Supernatural Landscapes
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: photography, poetry, disaster, landscape, form
Writing for Emerging Readers
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: fiction, writing, emerging readers, EFL, ESL
10:15-11:05
Paul Rossiter & Isobar Press Poets
The Year’s Work at Isobar
(Group Reading with Q&A)
Keywords: poetry from Japan
year84: The Newspeak ‘Translation’ of Nineteen Eighty-Four
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: year84, 1984, Newspeak, Nineteen Eight-Four, Orwell
11:15-12:05
Creating Publishable Short Form Poetry (Part 2)
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: short form poetry, editing, publishing
Transcultural Writing and the Thorny Problem of Cultural Appropriation
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: transcultural writing, cultural hybridity, cultural appropriation
Not An Impossible Dream
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: motivation, marketing, inspiration
12:05-13:10
Lunch Break
13:10–14:00
Crafted Disturbance: Writing the Zuihitsu
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: Zuihitsu, form, craft, fragmented, hybrid
Tatsuhiro Yamane, Trishit Banerjee, and Swastika Harsh Jajoo
The FONT of Revitalization: Storytelling & Tourism
Keywords: Fukushima, storytelling, tourism
David Joiner & Karen Hill Anton
Two Writers in Conversation: The Value of Correspondence
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: correspondence, professional development, support, community, motivation
14:10–15:00
The Impact of Free Verse on Our Fast-Moving World
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: aleppo, war poems, creativity helps healing, reading poems to create awareness
Stories in Flux: A Cross-Genre Approach to Climate Fiction
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: climate fiction, solarpunk, hopepunk, climate memoir
Getting into Print: One Writer’s Journey
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: publishing, columns, essays, memoir, novel
15:10–16:00
Dive into Deep POV: Crafting Emotionally Resonant Poetry
(Craft Workshop)
Keywords: deep Point of View (POV), poetry, performance, audience engagement, emotional well-being
The Time Traveler’s Guidebook: Tips and Traps in Historical Fiction Writing
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: fiction, historical fiction
Be Seen and Be Heard: Building So They Will Come
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: whispered stories, forgotten traditions, social networks
16:30–18:00
19:00–21:00
Saturday Night Gathering
Register HERE by OCT 18th
Room 1 – Poetry
David Gilbey
The Newly-Minted Reeling & Writhing Poetry Editing Workshop: Preparing for Publication
(Craft Workshop I, email registration at debidogirubi@gmail.com required)
Keywords: poetry, workshop, writing, editing, publishing
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Kianna Shore
The Art of Writing for Visual Mediums
(Short lecture with Q&A)Keywords: fiction, storytelling, visual writing
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Yoko Morgenstern & Katherine Govier
Transcreation in literature: How much should a translator intervene in reverse translation?
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: transcreation, reverse translation, own voices
Room 1 – Poetry
David Gilbey
The Newly-Minted Reeling & Writhing Poetry Editing Workshop: Preparing for Publication
(Craft Workshop II, email registration at debidogirubi@gmail.com required)
Keywords: poetry, workshop, writing, editing, publishing
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Yoko Morgenstern
Short Stories: online or in print?
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: short story, flash fiction, short story collection, online piracy
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
DC Palter
How to Make Money Writing for Japonica While Promoting Your Books
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: publishing, marketing, Medium, Japonica, income
Room 1 – Poetry
Philip Meersman
Interweaving Arts: Understanding Visual Poetry’s Spatial-Semiotic Unity, Interpretation, and Reproduction
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: visual poetry, spatial-semiotic unity, verbal and non-verbal elements, multimedia techniques, authorship and dating
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Nawres Chikhaoui
The Luxury Of Rewriting
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: rewriting, recreation, flow state
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Jeffrey (JJ) Carter
Enter the Dungeon: Leveling up your writing with the help of TTRPGs
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: fiction, craft, gaming, writing tools
Room 1 – Poetry
Warren Decker
Pine Needle Bookmark: a Workshop and Exchange of Haiku and Other Very Short Poems
(Craft Workshop)
Keywords: short poems, haiku, workshop, exchange
Room 2 – Fiction & Nonfiction
Rogelio F. Garcia Jr.
River as Method: Meandering as a Technique in Nonfiction Writing
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: synaptic essay, meandering, river as method, semantic coding, neuroplasticity
Room 3 – Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
Z.T. Balian
Pitfalls of Writing about Human Tragedies (e.g. War, Genocide, Nuclear Disaster) and How to Avoid Them
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: poetry, fiction, writing process, pitfalls, human tragedies
Lunch in ROOM 1
JOIN US with your lunchbox and share your opinion about future JWCs while waiting for the direct (and fastest) train to Tokyo at 15:30
ROOM 1
Poetry
ROOM 2
Fiction & Nonfiction
ROOM 3
Publishing, Marketing, Career (all genres)
09:30–10:20
The Newly-Minted Reeling & Writhing Poetry Editing Workshop: Preparing for Publication
(Craft Workshop I, email registration at debidogirubi@gmail.com required)
Keywords: poetry, workshop, writing, editing, publishing
The Art of Writing for Visual Mediums
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: fiction, storytelling, visual writing
Yoko Morgenstern & Katherine Govier
Transcreation in literature: How much should a translator intervene in reverse translation?
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: transcreation, reverse translation, own voices
10:30–11:20
The Newly-Minted Reeling & Writhing Poetry Editing Workshop: Preparing for Publication
(Craft Workshop II, email registration at debidogirubi@gmail.com required)
Keywords: poetry, workshop, writing, editing, publishing
Short Stories: online or in print?
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: short story, flash fiction, short story collection, online piracy
How to Make Money Writing for Japonica While Promoting Your Books
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: publishing, marketing, Medium, Japonica, income
11:30–12:20
Interweaving Arts: Understanding Visual Poetry’s Spatial-Semiotic Unity, Interpretation, and Reproduction
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: visual poetry, spatial-semiotic unity, verbal and non-verbal elements, multimedia techniques, authorship and dating
The Luxury Of Rewriting
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: rewriting, recreation, flow state
Enter the Dungeon: Leveling up your writing with the help of TTRPGs
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: fiction, craft, gaming, writing tools
12:30–13:20
Pine Needle Bookmark: a Workshop and Exchange of Haiku and Other Very Short Poems
(Craft Workshop)
Keywords: short poems, haiku, workshop, exchange
River as Method: Meandering as a Technique in Nonfiction Writing
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: synaptic essay, meandering, river as method, semantic coding, neuroplasticity
Pitfalls of Writing about Human Tragedies (e.g. War, Genocide, Nuclear Disaster) and How to Avoid Them
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: poetry, fiction, writing process, pitfalls, human tragedies
13:45–14:15
Lunch in ROOM 1
JOIN US with your lunchbox and share your opinion about future JWCs while waiting for the direct (and fastest) train to Tokyo at 15:30
Alexandra Corrin Tachibana
Crafted Disturbance: Writing the Zuihitsu
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Zuihitsu, form, craft, fragmented, hybrid
Zuihitsu might be translated as ‘follow the brush’ and the form has been widely interpreted to include collage as well as words, but what exactly is a zuihitsu? Beginning with Sei Shōnagon’s 10th century, The Pillow Book, moving on to Kenkō’s medieval classic, Essays in Idleness, through to modern British and Asian American zuihitsu, this masterclass will establish ‘rules’ for crafting zuihitsu. The workshop will reference scholarly essays and examine work of contemporary Asian American zuihitsu practitioners, such as Kimiko Hahn and Jenny Xie, as well as engaging with contemporary British practitioners, through the works of poets Simon Maddrell and Sue Burge. There will also be bespoke recordings of zuihitsu in the poet’s voice. Expect a session of exploration and discovery, as we immerse ourselves in this freeing and generous form.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana is a teacher of creative writing and has worked in higher education in the U.K. and in Japan. She has an MA in Writing Poetry (Newcastle University) and an MA in Japanese Language and Society (Sheffield University).
Brennan Conaway
year84: The Newspeak ‘Translation’ of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: year84, 1984, Newspeak, Nineteen Eight-Four, Orwell
It was a simple idea. Translate Nineteen Eighty-Four into Newspeak, the language George Orwell invented and introduced within that very same novel. I imagined it would be a metalinguistic ouroboros. And it would be a first. I didn’t know of any books written in Newspeak, which struck me as odd. Why hadn’t anyone done this before?
Brennan is an artist and university lecturer, who lives and works within the Tokyo megalopolis. He used his newfound knowledge of corpus linguistics to analyze the text of Nineteen Eighty-Four and construct the Newspeak language from Orwell’s original conception.
C.E.J. (Christopher) Simons
Fukushima Narratives: Form, Style, and Supernatural Landscapes
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: photography, poetry, disaster, landscape, form
This presentation session will explore how photographs and photography can provide inspiration, images, and forms for poetry writing on post-disaster landscapes. The session will focus on the case of post-2011-disaster Fukushima. While the world’s attention focused on Fukushima in 2011, this session considers how photography and poetry continue to represent the disaster, and maintain connections with Fukushima, more than a decade later. The session will show photographs from two Tokyo exhibitions on the post-tenth-anniversary situation in Fukushima. The session will then compare form and image in these photographs with form and image in published poetry based on the photos. One focus of the session will be to consider how representing landscapes as uncanny or supernatural (alien, post-apocalyptic, etc.) can create dramatic work, but can also create effects of emotional distancing and othering that can work against healing
and regeneration in disaster-hit communities.
Charles Kowalski
The Time Traveler’s Guidebook: Tips and Traps in Historical Fiction Writing
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Fiction, historical fiction
This presentation will provide valuable information for writers traveling through time to write historical fiction, including seven common “time traps” and how to avoid them, and essential resources to help you create an atmosphere that will make readers feel they’ve traveled back in time with you. (Time machine not included.)
Charles Kowalski is the award-winning author of the contemporary thriller MIND VIRUS and the SIMON GREY historical fantasy series based on the yokai lore of Tokugawa Japan. He teaches at Tokai University in Kanagawa.
David Gilbey (session I and session II)
The Newly-Minted Reeling & Writhing Poetry Editing Workshop: Preparing for Publication (registration required)
Craft Workshop (two sessions, email debidogirubi@gmail.com to attend)
Keywords: poetry, workshop, writing, editing, publishing
This workshop will be the latest iteration of the successful session offered by John Gribble at the 2008 JWC and by me since then. It will involve my sending out a brief to intending participants requiring them to submit drafts of poems and, before the conference, to read and edit each of the participants’ poems.
The workshop will be two hours duration, limited to eight participants who must commit to the two hours.
We will work on a poem or two from each poet to get it ‘best dressed’ for publication, recognising that there are both personal and professional benefits from a closely-focussed discussion of emerging texts bycommitted writers.
David Gilbey: Professor of English at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia, for more than forty years and three years at Miyagi Gakuin in Sendai; the founding President of Booranga Writers’ Centre and the editor of fourW: new writing. He has three collections of poems and is published widely.
David Joiner & Karen Hill Anton
Two Writers in Conversation: The Value of Correspondence
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Correspondence, Professional development, support, community, motivation
Karen and David will discuss the literary correspondence of well-known authors from the past as well as their own correspondence, both with each other and with other writers, and examine how it has influenced their work, development as writers, and lives, and why, despite the prevalence of social media – or perhaps because of it – it remains their preferred method of long-distance communication and literary engagement. Their conversation will explore literary correspondence in the following contexts: 1) as a source of literary support, motivation, and inspiration, 2) professional development, 3) as a substitute for in-person social and literary interaction. They hope their conversation and Q&A afterward will encourage people to cultivate new relationships through correspondence in this age of social media interaction and a turning toward deeper, more deliberate, and more nuanced communication.
Karen Hill Anton is the author of the multiple award-winning memoir The View From Breast Pocket Mountain, the novel A Thousand Graces, and the essay collection Crossing Cultures. She lives in Shizuoka.
David Joiner is the author of the novels The Heron Catchers, Kanazawa, and Lotusland. He lives in Kanazawa.
DC Palter
How to Make Money Writing for Japonica While Promoting Your Books
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: publishing, marketing, Medium, Japonica, income
Finding a wide audience for your books is a daunting and frustrating task. Japonica (https://medium.com/japonica-publication), a publication of Japanese culture, would like to help.
Japonica is a publication on the Medium platform, providing a space for authors in English and Japanese to write about their Japan experience. Japonica helps get those articles in front of a million Medium subscribers while writers get paid by Medium.
Unlike traditional print publications, Japonica exists to help promote our writers. In addition to getting your articles in front of a wide audience as possible, we’re happy for you to promote your own books and other writings.
In this presentation, you will learn the type of articles Japonica publishes, how to maximum earnings from writing on Medium, and how to take advantage of Japonica and Medium to promote your other works.
DC Palter is a novelist and tech entrepreneur. He is co-editor-in-chief of Japonica Magazine. DC holds an MFA in creative writing along with degrees in engineering, marketing, and law. He first moved to Japan in 1988 and now splits his time between Los Angeles and Kobe.
Jeffrey (JJ) Carter
Enter the Dungeon: Leveling up your writing with the help of TTRPGs
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: Fiction, Craft, Gaming, Writing Tools
This presentation will cover the tools that can be found in tabletop games such as Dungeons and Dragons and will share some of JJ’s favorites that he uses in his own writing. This will include methods for improvising when your players or characters make decisions that derail your plans and some tools found in tabletop rulebooks, such as lists of fiction for inspiration and worksheets for character/plot development.
Jeffrey (JJ) Carter lives in northern Japan. He’s been sharing his stories with friends and family since childhood and has recently started working as a professional game master running tabletop games. He writes primarily sci-fi and fantasy and loves creating interesting worlds and what-ifs. He also loves puns.
Karen Hill Anton
Getting into Print: One Writer’s Journey
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: publishing, columns, essays, memoir, novel
Getting into print is no longer the uphill battle it once was. Still, as writers we may face daily deflation, regular disappointment. Perhaps you followed the guidelines for submitting an article, or the “first 50 pages” of your manuscript, and no one even bothered to send you a rejection letter. As a writer, you might not know anyone who’s pursued writing as a career, someone with whom you can talk, commiserate—better yet, get advice and encouragement. It could be useful to know if your expectations for publishing your book align with the realities. In this presentation I’ll share the experience (the good, the bad, the ugly) of one writer getting into print. A cautionary tale that will also inspire. We’ll cover the approaches and attitudes that could benefit you in getting your writing not just into print, but in front of readers.
Karen Hill Anton wrote the columns “Crossing Cultures” (Japan Times) and “Another Look” (Chunichi Shimbun). Author of the multiple award-winning memoir THE VIEW FROM BREAST POCKET MOUNTAIN, her debut novel is A THOUSAND GRACES. Originally from New York City, Karen has made her home in rural Shizuoka prefecture since 1975.
Kianna Shore
The Art of Writing for Visual Mediums
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Fiction, storytelling, visual writing
This presentation focuses on the skills and techniques necessary to write for visual storytelling such as comics, web series, and film. Writing for visual mediums have their own unique challenges, as the audience typically doesn’t see the words, but instead experiences the vision. Working with an artist or an entire team is a collaborative process that requires artful writing with a director’s touch. We will examine scripts from film, television, and comics to explore the differences in writing, giving participants the confidence to explore this visual writing style.
Kianna Shore is a Korean American writer based in Japan. Kianna is also a UCLA MFA Screenwriting alumna, editor of the Japan based magazine CONNECT, and author of the comic series BLADE RUNNER: TOKYO NEXUS. Kianna can be found befriending cats and hunting for the best boba in town.
Mohamad Kebbewar
The Impact of Free Verse on Our Fast-Moving World
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Aleppo, war poems, creativity helps healing, reading poems to create awareness
I started writing out of necessity—the war in Aleppo happened like lightening, changing everything in our lives so quickly and so drastically. I started writing poetry to remember and forget the war all at once. After writing my poems, painful memories were released from my mind, and I no longer remember them in the same intensity. Free verse was a natural choice because it did not restrict me with technique or form.
I left Aleppo in 2012 to go to Montreal, QC, and later to Calgary, AB. In Calgary I was a newcomer, and I did not know anyone. It was a perfect climate for creativity. I wrote and performed poems. The creative community was very welcoming. In this workshop, I will explore the accessibility of free verse, read some of my poems, and answer questions about my writing journey.
Mohamad Kebbewar was born and raised in Aleppo. Immigrating to Canada at age 19, Kebbewar earned a degree in history from Concordia University before becoming a graphic designer. He is putting the final touches on his novel The Bones of Aleppo.
Nawres Chikhaoui
The Luxury of Rewriting
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Rewriting, recreation, flow state
Welcoming all experiences in writing is a big move. That requires a whole new degree of adaption. A literal pressing of the delete button on years of work might sound devastating to most of us as authors. As a result, we stop working hard, and rewriting for different reasons becomes our both day and nightmare. With my presentation and experience in the publishing world, I am coaching the participants on doubling the efforts to get out of that situation and embracing as much editing as possible. The presentation is based on the Eat the Elephant method.
Nawres is the author of three books, a possibilitarian-mindset coach, and founder of the RUN IT company for coaching and lifestyle. She has a story of ‘coming from nothing’ and ‘moving to something’ mainly in the publishing world.
Patrick Murphrey
Not An Impossible Dream
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Motivation, Marketing, Inspiration
If writing seems like an impossible dream and you are not sure how to turn it into reality, this presentation, starting with motivation and finishing with publishing, will explain proven ways for achieving goals as well as share my own experiences. Yet the presentation will not stop there as well have some time for discussion where everyone can share their own ideas to help each other. Therefore, when this presentation ends, the goal of helping you achieve your goals will come true and there will no longer be a need to follow in Don Quixote’s footsteps and fight with windmills.
Patrick Murphrey, an American, lived in eight countries and extensively traveled the world. All that adventure caused him to fall in love with languages (he speaks three fluently). It is no wonder he eventually became a travel writer. He has written articles about Japan, other countries, and his hobby- nature.
Pauline Baird
Be Seen and Be Heard: Building So They Will Come
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Whispered Stories, Forgotten Traditions, Social Networks
My work focuses on building networks for niche publishing. I left graduate school with a mission to publish my work to my Caribbean community, so I built a company and social media presence that reaches audiences as far as Africa and Australia, to name a few. I am surprised at the novel ways I could market books without much advertising. I share how I learned how to be organic and strategic and help others (including children) write and publish. Making space for publishing may mean building the “table,” as they say. The audience is invited to share their marketing and publishing strategies.
Pauline Baird is an author, teacher, friend, storyteller, dog person, and a doer of things. She has taught at many levels in her home country, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Palau, Guam, and Japan. Pauline loves gardening and going for long walks.
Paul Rossiter, Iain Maloney, John Gribble, Jane Joritz-Nakagawa & others
The Year’s Work at Isobar
Group Reading with QA
Keywords: poetry from Japan
In this session Iain Maloney, author of Japan Lights, will introduce and read from Mountain Retreats, his book gathering two striking poetic sequences set in the Japanese Alps; John Gribble, previously a leading light in the Japan Writers Conference, will introduce and read from his second full-length collection My Brother Goes Down to the Sea; and Jane Joritz-Nakagawa will introduce and read from her latest book-length sequence Luna. Depending on publishing contingencies, one or more other books – from Yoko Danno, Andrew Fitzsimons, Lindley Williams Hubbell, Paul Rossiter, Philip Rowland, or C. E. J. Simons – will be available from Isobar by November. If a book is out by then, its author will be at the JWC, ready to speak and read!
Paul Rossiter has published eleven books of poetry since 1995. After retiring from teaching at the University of Tokyo in 2012, he founded Isobar Press, which specialises in publishing English-language poetry from Japan, and English translations of modernist and contemporary Japanese poetry.
Philip Meersman
Dive into Deep POV: Crafting Emotionally Resonant Poetry
Craft Workshop
Keywords: Deep Point of View (POV), Poetry, Performance, Audience Engagement, Emotional Well-being
Explore the depths of emotional expression in poetry through our specialized workshop on deep Point of View (POV). Discover how to convey raw feelings while maintaining inner stability, drawing from personal experiences to captivate audiences without losing yourself in the process.
As a performance poet, learn to wield vulnerability without fragility, transforming anger into poignant verses rather than mere shouts. Uncover the secrets of forging profound emotional connections with your audience, while safeguarding your own emotional equilibrium.
By the workshop’s end, participants will possess the skills to infuse their poetry with emotional depth, engaging listeners while preserving their own well-being. Enhance your connection with audiences by tapping into universal emotions and tailoring your work to diverse performance settings. Join us as we navigate the interplay of content, emotion, and context, empowering you to craft poetry that resonates deeply with any audience.
Philip Meersman (spooninmybrain.org), multilingual poet & doctoral student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, is shifting boundaries of written & spoken poetry based upon current events, socio-political and environmental principles. He performs worldwide, gives experimental, visual and performance poetry workshops & creates immersive & interactive poetry performances.
Philip Meersman
Interweaving Arts: Understanding Visual Poetry’s Spatial-Semiotic Unity, Interpretation, and Reproduction
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Visual Poetry, Spatial-Semiotic Unity, Verbal and Non-Verbal Elements, Multimedia Techniques, Authorship and Dating
Visual poetry bridges fine arts, music, and literature, intertwining verbal and non-verbal elements into spatial-semiotic unity. Each element bears meaning independently and collectively, requiring unique modes of interpretation. Reproduction necessitates multimedia techniques, distancing oral renditions. Materials and techniques offer insights into dating and authorship.
Philip Meersman (spooninmybrain.org), multilingual poet & doctoral student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, is shifting boundaries of written & spoken poetry based upon current events, socio-political and environmental principles. He performs worldwide, gives experimental, visual and performance poetry workshops & creates immersive & interactive poetry performances.
Philip Rowland
Creating Publishable Short Form Poetry (Part 2)
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: short form poetry, editing, publishing
At JWC 2023, the presenter discussed what makes a really short poem publishable, focusing on haiku and similarly minimal poems. This year’s presentation will continue to explore the topic, with a focus on somewhat longer short poems (up to 14 lines). Again, the question will be explored not merely in terms of matching certain editorial expectations, but also of innovation. Needless to say, editors’ standards are largely subjective, but there is no getting away from the question of quality: what makes a short poem really worth making public? Drawing on twenty years’ experience of editing and publishing a poetry journal, as well as several collections and anthologies, the presenter will suggest, through discussion of examples, some guidelines which may be helpful to those aiming to write short-form poetry of genuinely publishable worth.
Philip Rowland is a British poet and professor based in Tokyo. He is the founding editor of NOON: journal of the short poem and co-editor of the anthology Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (W.W. Norton, 2013). His most recent book is An Open Parenthesis (Isobar Press, 2022).
Richard Evanoff
Transcultural Writing and the Thorny Problem of Cultural Appropriation
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Transcultural Writing, Cultural Hybridity, Cultural Appropriation
Foreign writers abroad and others writing in English may adopt literary forms, use settings, or try to get “inside the heads” of characters from cultures which are different from their own. On the one hand, “cultural appropriation” can be regarded as an innocuous and even legitimate way for authors to blend cultures into new transcultural and hybrid forms. On the other hand, the phrase is increasingly being used to defend cultural forms from intrusions by “outsiders.” What exactly is the dividing line between “appropriate” and “inappropriate” uses of cultural appropriation? The first half of this presentation will delineate several of the many stances that may be adopted in this debate, using haiku in English and transcultural fiction as examples. The remaining Q/A time will offer participants an opportunity to pool resources and share their own experiences and views on what has now become the thorny problem of cultural appropriation.
Richard Evanoff is a former coordinator of the Tokyo Writers Workshop and editor of Printed Matter. He was founding editor of the literary journal, Edge, and currently organizes the Tokyo Open Mic. In addition to his literary publications, he has written extensively on intercultural philosophy and ethics.
Rogelio F. Garcia Jr.
River as Method: Meandering as a Technique in Nonfiction Writing
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Synaptic essay, meandering, river as method, semantic coding, neuroplasticity
All rivers lead to the sea. But rivers naturally meander. Meandering is caused by the earth’s rotation, exerting a force that bends rivers. No river can naturally form a straight path. My presentation focuses on the river as method: both as a subject in my nonfiction projects and a form which celebrates meandering—not to be looked at as digression but a crucial structure which eventually reveals its necessity upon the reader’s and the essay’s ultimate arrival. I make use of the importance of extended associations, synaptic thinking, neuroplasticity and semantic coding to bring out the sense of play and sense in the play in nonfiction writing.
Elio Garcia teaches film theory at the University of the Philippines Film Institute. He received his PhD in English at the University of Oregon and taught nonfiction at Johns Hopkins University. His poetry, fiction, and essays are published in literary anthologies and journals in the Philippines.
Sara Ellis
Stories in Flux: A Cross-Genre Approach to Climate Fiction
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Climate fiction, solarpunk, hopepunk, climate memoir
This presentation will focus on the emerging genre of climate fiction and its slippery position within genre. After a brief overview of its history, we’ll touch upon related genres such as solarpunk and hopepunk, and look at ways to incorporate climate research and personal experience into stories while navigating the emotional challenges that can often arise as a result. The presentation will finish with a short workshop in which participants will mine and share their experiences of a changing planet.
Sara Ellis is a Lambda Writers Fellow and attended the Milford Science Fiction Workshop in 2017 and 2022. Her stories have appeared in Analog, Shoreline of Infinity, and Fusion Fragment among many others, and are forthcoming in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Her first novel “If the Stars Are Lit” will debut in April 2025 from Luna Press.
Suzanne Kamata
Writing for Emerging Readers
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: fiction, writing, emerging readers, EFL, ESL
Although there seem to be fewer and fewer markets for short fiction, publishers of materials for English language learners remain a viable alternative. Emerging readers crave short, well-written, engaging stories aimed at adults. For writers, this can be a potentially lucrative market, and a chance to explore new ideas and genres. In this session, I will talk about how to write for emerging readers and suggest ways to break into this market.
American Suzanne Kamata is the author/editor of 17 books. In addition, she has published stories for English language learners in The Asahi Weekly, as well as three titles in the Gemma Open Door series. She lives in Tokushima, where she is an associate professor at Naruto University of Education.
Tatsuhiro Yamane, Trishit Banerjee, and Swastika Harsh Jajoo
The FONT of Revitalization: Storytelling & TourismShort
Keywords: Fukushima, storytelling, tourism
The session highlights the innovative approach of F-ATRAs, a company established in 2019 with a mission to revitalise the Futaba and Hamadori (Coastal Fukushima) regions through tourism. In the aftermath of the 2011 disaster, F-ATRAs has focused on creating experiences that reconnect people with the area’s rich history and cultural heritage. One of their key initiatives is the town walking tours in Futaba, which share stories that predate the disaster, allowing participants to gain insight into the lives and traditions of the people who lived there. F-ATRAs also developed the ‘FONT Tour,’ which links the towns of Futaba, Okuma, Namie, and Tomioka. This tour encourages visitors to engage with the region on a personal level, reflecting on town building and the potential for community revitalisation within their own contexts. This session explores how storytelling and tourism work together to rebuild and reimagine these towns.
Tatsuhiro Yamane. A Tokyo native, Yamane transitioned to recovery support after the 2011 earthquake. He later founded F-ATRAs in 2019 to assist community revitalisation via regional tourism. He is also an elected member of the Town Assembly and resides in Futaba with his wife and 3 daughters.
Swastika Harsh Jajoo. Born in New Delhi, India, Jajoo holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Tohoku University. She also supports local students with Japanese language instruction. Joining F-ATRAs in 2021, she now manages tours in coastal Fukushima, and teaches English in Namie, where she relocated in 2023.
Trishit Banerjee. Born and brought up in suburbs of Mumbai, India, Trishit holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Tohoku University. He joined F-ATRAs an intern in 2020 and as a full-time employee in 2024 where he develops tours, provides language support, and explores potential markets for the company.
Warren Decker
Pine Needle Bookmark: a Workshop and Exchange of Haiku and Other Very Short Poems
Craft Workshop
Keywords: short poems, haiku, workshop, exchange
Pine needle bookmark is an opportunity for you to share one haiku or any other very short poem (1-20 words) and receive feedback and suggestions from other participants. We will also discuss journals such as Modern Haiku, Frogpond, NOON, Acorn, Whiptail, and Kingfisher, where you might be able to publish your poem. All participants who would like to share a poem will need to email me beforehand (even if it’s on the night before the conference!) with your poem on a PowerPoint slide, to this address: warrennout@gmail.com. Of course, there is no obligation to share, and anyone who is interested in reading, writing, and publishing very short poetry and haiku is welcome to join.
Warren Decker is the author of The Long Side of the Midnight Sun (Isobar Press, 2020) and has published poetry, fiction and non-fiction in The Best American Poetry 2018, NOON, Modern Haiku, Sou’wester, DON magazine and other journals. He also performs his rhymed poetry in the Kansai area.
Yoko Morgenstern
Short Stories: online or in print?
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: short story, flash fiction, short story collection, online piracy
As a short story writer, it is always a great pleasure to see my work in print; however, with the relatively small circulations of most literary journals, it is hard to reach a greater audience. Online publications are great for that matter, but the work will be therefore put in a vulnerable position against online piracy. How do we protect our work? Gleaning evidence from my own case, I will explain how my flash fiction ended up being translated, optioned for a podcast, and abused.
Secondly, is it true or a myth that short story collections don’t sell? Despite publishers’ hesitation, short stories are the literary forms that match the busy, modern readership. How could we, short story writers convince the industry that short story collections are publishable, which, I believe, is one way of saving stories from online vulnerability?
Originally from Tokyo, Yoko Morgenstern started writing fiction while living in Canada. She received an M.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Bamberg. She is a member of the Japan P.E.N. Club. In 2024, she is awarded a literature prize from the City of Stein, Germany.
Yoko Morgenstern & Katherine Govier
Transcreation in literature: How much should a translator intervene in reverse translation?
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Transcreation, reverse translation, own voices
The term “transcreation” has become one of the key features in marketing translation to make copywriting more acceptable to the target audience. Does it work in literary translation as well? If so, how much alteration would be considered as “true to the original?” When you are translating a novel that is set in your country and written in another language back to your own language, reverse translation is inevitable. How much freedom does a translator enjoy in this case? How far can a translator intervene if things don’t sound authentic to the target audience? Should fiction be written only by the Ownvoices authors? Gleaning evidence from my own translation work, I’d like to discuss these sensitive themes with my author.
Originally from Tokyo, Yoko Morgenstern started writing fiction while living in Canada. She received an M.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Bamberg. She is a member of the Japan P.E.N. Club. In 2024, she is awarded a literature prize from the City of Stein, Germany.
Katherine Govier is a Canadian novelist. She has been Chair of the Writers’ Trust of Canada and President of PEN Canada. Her novel, The Ghost Brush, focusing on the life of Katsushika Oi, has been translated into six languages. She founded The Shoe Project, a writing workshop for immigrant women.
Z.T. Balian
Pitfalls of Writing about Human Tragedies (e.g. War, Genocide, Nuclear Disaster) and How to Avoid Them
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: poetry, fiction, writing process, pitfalls, human tragedies
In both fiction and poetry, the following have to be considered when dealing with human tragedies such as ethnic cleansing:
Multilingual author, Z. T. Balian, holds an MA in English Literature from the American University of Beirut. As a university lecturer, she has published several academic English textbooks. Her translations include poetry in English, French, Armenian, Arabic, and Turkish. She now devotes her time to writing poetry and fiction.
Alexandra Corrin Tachibana
Crafted Disturbance: Writing the Zuihitsu
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Zuihitsu, form, craft, fragmented, hybrid
Zuihitsu might be translated as ‘follow the brush’ and the form has been widely interpreted to include collage as well as words, but what exactly is a zuihitsu? Beginning with Sei Shōnagon’s 10th century, The Pillow Book, moving on to Kenkō’s medieval classic, Essays in Idleness, through to modern British and Asian American zuihitsu, this masterclass will establish ‘rules’ for crafting zuihitsu. The workshop will reference scholarly essays and examine work of contemporary Asian American zuihitsu practitioners, such as Kimiko Hahn and Jenny Xie, as well as engaging with contemporary British practitioners, through the works of poets Simon Maddrell and Sue Burge. There will also be bespoke recordings of zuihitsu in the poet’s voice. Expect a session of exploration and discovery, as we immerse ourselves in this freeing and generous form.
Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana is a teacher of creative writing and has worked in higher education in the U.K. and in Japan. She has an MA in Writing Poetry (Newcastle University) and an MA in Japanese Language and Society (Sheffield University).
Brennan Conaway
year84: The Newspeak ‘Translation’ of Nineteen Eighty-Four
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: year84, 1984, Newspeak, Nineteen Eight-Four, Orwell
It was a simple idea. Translate Nineteen Eighty-Four into Newspeak, the language George Orwell invented and introduced within that very same novel. I imagined it would be a metalinguistic ouroboros. And it would be a first. I didn’t know of any books written in Newspeak, which struck me as odd. Why hadn’t anyone done this before?
Brennan is an artist and university lecturer, who lives and works within the Tokyo megalopolis. He used his newfound knowledge of corpus linguistics to analyze the text of Nineteen Eighty-Four and construct the Newspeak language from Orwell’s original conception.
C.E.J. (Christopher) Simons
Fukushima Narratives: Form, Style, and Supernatural Landscapes
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: photography, poetry, disaster, landscape, form
This presentation session will explore how photographs and photography can provide inspiration, images, and forms for poetry writing on post-disaster landscapes. The session will focus on the case of post-2011-disaster Fukushima. While the world’s attention focused on Fukushima in 2011, this session considers how photography and poetry continue to represent the disaster, and maintain connections with Fukushima, more than a decade later. The session will show photographs from two Tokyo exhibitions on the post-tenth-anniversary situation in Fukushima. The session will then compare form and image in these photographs with form and image in published poetry based on the photos. One focus of the session will be to consider how representing landscapes as uncanny or supernatural (alien, post-apocalyptic, etc.) can create dramatic work, but can also create effects of emotional distancing and othering that can work against healing and regeneration in disaster-hit communities.
Charles Kowalski
The Time Traveler’s Guidebook: Tips and Traps in Historical Fiction Writing
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Fiction, historical fiction
This presentation will provide valuable information for writers traveling through time to write historical fiction, including seven common “time traps” and how to avoid them, and essential resources to help you create an atmosphere that will make readers feel they’ve traveled back in time with you. (Time machine not included.)
Charles Kowalski is the award-winning author of the contemporary thriller MIND VIRUS and the SIMON GREY historical fantasy series based on the yokai lore of Tokugawa Japan. He teaches at Tokai University in Kanagawa.
David Gilbey (session I and session II)
The Newly-Minted Reeling & Writhing Poetry Editing Workshop: Preparing for Publication (registration required)
Craft Workshop (two sessions, email debidogirubi@gmail.com to attend)
Keywords: poetry, workshop, writing, editing, publishing
This workshop will be the latest iteration of the successful session offered by John Gribble at the 2008 JWC and by me since then. It will involve my sending out a brief to intending participants requiring them to submit drafts of poems and, before the conference, to read and edit each of the participants’ poems.
The workshop will be two hours duration, limited to eight participants who must commit to the two hours.
We will work on a poem or two from each poet to get it ‘best dressed’ for publication, recognising that there are both personal and professional benefits from a closely-focussed discussion of emerging texts bycommitted writers.
David Gilbey: Professor of English at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia, for more than forty years and three years at Miyagi Gakuin in Sendai; the founding President of Booranga Writers’ Centre and the editor of fourW: new writing. He has three collections of poems and is published widely.
David Joiner & Karen Hill Anton
Two Writers in Conversation: The Value of Correspondence
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Correspondence, Professional development, support, community, motivation
Karen and David will discuss the literary correspondence of well-known authors from the past as well as their own correspondence, both with each other and with other writers, and examine how it has influenced their work, development as writers, and lives, and why, despite the prevalence of social media – or perhaps because of it – it remains their preferred method of long-distance communication and literary engagement. Their conversation will explore literary correspondence in the following contexts: 1) as a source of literary support, motivation, and inspiration, 2) professional development, 3) as a substitute for in-person social and literary interaction. They hope their conversation and Q&A afterward will encourage people to cultivate new relationships through correspondence in this age of social media interaction and a turning toward deeper, more deliberate, and more nuanced communication.
Karen Hill Anton is the author of the multiple award-winning memoir The View From Breast Pocket Mountain, the novel A Thousand Graces, and the essay collection Crossing Cultures. She lives in Shizuoka.
David Joiner is the author of the novels The Heron Catchers, Kanazawa, and Lotusland. He lives in Kanazawa.
DC Palter
How to Make Money Writing for Japonica While Promoting Your Books
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: publishing, marketing, Medium, Japonica, income
Finding a wide audience for your books is a daunting and frustrating task. Japonica (https://medium.com/japonica-publication), a publication of Japanese culture, would like to help.
Japonica is a publication on the Medium platform, providing a space for authors in English and Japanese to write about their Japan experience. Japonica helps get those articles in front of a million Medium subscribers while writers get paid by Medium.
Unlike traditional print publications, Japonica exists to help promote our writers. In addition to getting your articles in front of a wide audience as possible, we’re happy for you to promote your own books and other writings.
In this presentation, you will learn the type of articles Japonica publishes, how to maximum earnings from writing on Medium, and how to take advantage of Japonica and Medium to promote your other works.
DC Palter is a novelist and tech entrepreneur. He is co-editor-in-chief of Japonica Magazine. DC holds an MFA in creative writing along with degrees in engineering, marketing, and law. He first moved to Japan in 1988 and now splits his time between Los Angeles and Kobe.
Jeffrey (JJ) Carter
Enter the Dungeon: Leveling up your writing with the help of TTRPGs
(Short lecture with Q&A)
Keywords: Fiction, Craft, Gaming, Writing Tools
This presentation will cover the tools that can be found in tabletop games such as Dungeons and Dragons and will share some of JJ’s favorites that he uses in his own writing. This will include methods for improvising when your players or characters make decisions that derail your plans and some tools found in tabletop rulebooks, such as lists of fiction for inspiration and worksheets for character/plot development.
Jeffrey (JJ) Carter lives in northern Japan. He’s been sharing his stories with friends and family since childhood and has recently started working as a professional game master running tabletop games. He writes primarily sci-fi and fantasy and loves creating interesting worlds and what-ifs. He also loves puns.
Karen Hill Anton
Getting into Print: One Writer’s Journey
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: publishing, columns, essays, memoir, novel
Getting into print is no longer the uphill battle it once was. Still, as writers we may face daily deflation, regular disappointment. Perhaps you followed the guidelines for submitting an article, or the “first 50 pages” of your manuscript, and no one even bothered to send you a rejection letter. As a writer, you might not know anyone who’s pursued writing as a career, someone with whom you can talk, commiserate—better yet, get advice and encouragement. It could be useful to know if your expectations for publishing your book align with the realities. In this presentation I’ll share the experience (the good, the bad, the ugly) of one writer getting into print. A cautionary tale that will also inspire. We’ll cover the approaches and attitudes that could benefit you in getting your writing not just into print, but in front of readers.
Karen Hill Anton wrote the columns “Crossing Cultures” (Japan Times) and “Another Look” (Chunichi Shimbun). Author of the multiple award-winning memoir THE VIEW FROM BREAST POCKET MOUNTAIN, her debut novel is A THOUSAND GRACES. Originally from New York City, Karen has made her home in rural Shizuoka prefecture since 1975.
Kianna Shore
The Art of Writing for Visual Mediums
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Fiction, storytelling, visual writing
This presentation focuses on the skills and techniques necessary to write for visual storytelling such as comics, web series, and film. Writing for visual mediums have their own unique challenges, as the audience typically doesn’t see the words, but instead experiences the vision. Working with an artist or an entire team is a collaborative process that requires artful writing with a director’s touch. We will examine scripts from film, television, and comics to explore the differences in writing, giving participants the confidence to explore this visual writing style.
Kianna Shore is a Korean American writer based in Japan. Kianna is also a UCLA MFA Screenwriting alumna, editor of the Japan based magazine CONNECT, and author of the comic series BLADE RUNNER: TOKYO NEXUS. Kianna can be found befriending cats and hunting for the best boba in town.
Mohamad Kebbewar
The Impact of Free Verse on Our Fast-Moving World
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Aleppo, war poems, creativity helps healing, reading poems to create awareness
I started writing out of necessity—the war in Aleppo happened like lightening, changing everything in our lives so quickly and so drastically. I started writing poetry to remember and forget the war all at once. After writing my poems, painful memories were released from my mind, and I no longer remember them in the same intensity. Free verse was a natural choice because it did not restrict me with technique or form.
I left Aleppo in 2012 to go to Montreal, QC, and later to Calgary, AB. In Calgary I was a newcomer, and I did not know anyone. It was a perfect climate for creativity. I wrote and performed poems. The creative community was very welcoming. In this workshop, I will explore the accessibility of free verse, read some of my poems, and answer questions about my writing journey.
Mohamad Kebbewar was born and raised in Aleppo. Immigrating to Canada at age 19, Kebbewar earned a degree in history from Concordia University before becoming a graphic designer. He is putting the final touches on his novel The Bones of Aleppo.
Nawres Chikhaoui
The Luxury of Rewriting
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Rewriting, recreation, flow state
Welcoming all experiences in writing is a big move. That requires a whole new degree of adaption. A literal pressing of the delete button on years of work might sound devastating to most of us as authors. As a result, we stop working hard, and rewriting for different reasons becomes our both day and nightmare. With my presentation and experience in the publishing world, I am coaching the participants on doubling the efforts to get out of that situation and embracing as much editing as possible. The presentation is based on the Eat the Elephant method.
Nawres is the author of three books, a possibilitarian-mindset coach, and founder of the RUN IT company for coaching and lifestyle. She has a story of ‘coming from nothing’ and ‘moving to something’ mainly in the publishing world.
Patrick Murphrey
Not An Impossible Dream
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Motivation, Marketing, Inspiration
If writing seems like an impossible dream and you are not sure how to turn it into reality, this presentation, starting with motivation and finishing with publishing, will explain proven ways for achieving goals as well as share my own experiences. Yet the presentation will not stop there as well have some time for discussion where everyone can share their own ideas to help each other. Therefore, when this presentation ends, the goal of helping you achieve your goals will come true and there will no longer be a need to follow in Don Quixote’s footsteps and fight with windmills.
Patrick Murphrey, an American, lived in eight countries and extensively traveled the world. All that adventure caused him to fall in love with languages (he speaks three fluently). It is no wonder he eventually became a travel writer. He has written articles about Japan, other countries, and his hobby- nature.
Pauline Baird
Be Seen and Be Heard: Building So They Will Come
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Whispered Stories, Forgotten Traditions, Social Networks
My work focuses on building networks for niche publishing. I left graduate school with a mission to publish my work to my Caribbean community, so I built a company and social media presence that reaches audiences as far as Africa and Australia, to name a few. I am surprised at the novel ways I could market books without much advertising. I share how I learned how to be organic and strategic and help others (including children) write and publish. Making space for publishing may mean building the “table,” as they say. The audience is invited to share their marketing and publishing strategies.
Pauline Baird is an author, teacher, friend, storyteller, dog person, and a doer of things. She has taught at many levels in her home country, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Palau, Guam, and Japan. Pauline loves gardening and going for long walks.
Paul Rossiter, Iain Maloney, John Gribble, Jane Joritz-Nakagawa & others
The Year’s Work at Isobar
Group Reading with QA
Keywords: poetry from Japan
In this session Iain Maloney, author of Japan Lights, will introduce and read from Mountain Retreats, his book gathering two striking poetic sequences set in the Japanese Alps; John Gribble, previously a leading light in the Japan Writers Conference, will introduce and read from his second full-length collection My Brother Goes Down to the Sea; and Jane Joritz-Nakagawa will introduce and read from her latest book-length sequence Luna. Depending on publishing contingencies, one or more other books – from Yoko Danno, Andrew Fitzsimons, Lindley Williams Hubbell, Paul Rossiter, Philip Rowland, or C. E. J. Simons – will be available from Isobar by November. If a book is out by then, its author will be at the JWC, ready to speak and read!
Paul Rossiter has published eleven books of poetry since 1995. After retiring from teaching at the University of Tokyo in 2012, he founded Isobar Press, which specialises in publishing English-language poetry from Japan, and English translations of modernist and contemporary Japanese poetry.
Philip Meersman
Dive into Deep POV: Crafting Emotionally Resonant Poetry
Craft Workshop
Keywords: Deep Point of View (POV), Poetry, Performance, Audience Engagement, Emotional Well-being
Explore the depths of emotional expression in poetry through our specialized workshop on deep Point of View (POV). Discover how to convey raw feelings while maintaining inner stability, drawing from personal experiences to captivate audiences without losing yourself in the process.
As a performance poet, learn to wield vulnerability without fragility, transforming anger into poignant verses rather than mere shouts. Uncover the secrets of forging profound emotional connections with your audience, while safeguarding your own emotional equilibrium.
By the workshop’s end, participants will possess the skills to infuse their poetry with emotional depth, engaging listeners while preserving their own well-being. Enhance your connection with audiences by tapping into universal emotions and tailoring your work to diverse performance settings. Join us as we navigate the interplay of content, emotion, and context, empowering you to craft poetry that resonates deeply with any audience.
Philip Meersman (spooninmybrain.org), multilingual poet & doctoral student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, is shifting boundaries of written & spoken poetry based upon current events, socio-political and environmental principles. He performs worldwide, gives experimental, visual and performance poetry workshops & creates immersive & interactive poetry performances.
Philip Meersman
Interweaving Arts: Understanding Visual Poetry’s Spatial-Semiotic Unity, Interpretation, and Reproduction
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Visual Poetry, Spatial-Semiotic Unity, Verbal and Non-Verbal Elements, Multimedia Techniques, Authorship and Dating
Visual poetry bridges fine arts, music, and literature, intertwining verbal and non-verbal elements into spatial-semiotic unity. Each element bears meaning independently and collectively, requiring unique modes of interpretation. Reproduction necessitates multimedia techniques, distancing oral renditions. Materials and techniques offer insights into dating and authorship.
Philip Meersman (spooninmybrain.org), multilingual poet & doctoral student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, is shifting boundaries of written & spoken poetry based upon current events, socio-political and environmental principles. He performs worldwide, gives experimental, visual and performance poetry workshops & creates immersive & interactive poetry performances.
Philip Rowland
Creating Publishable Short Form Poetry (Part 2)
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: short form poetry, editing, publishing
At JWC 2023, the presenter discussed what makes a really short poem publishable, focusing on haiku and similarly minimal poems. This year’s presentation will continue to explore the topic, with a focus on somewhat longer short poems (up to 14 lines). Again, the question will be explored not merely in terms of matching certain editorial expectations, but also of innovation. Needless to say, editors’ standards are largely subjective, but there is no getting away from the question of quality: what makes a short poem really worth making public? Drawing on twenty years’ experience of editing and publishing a poetry journal, as well as several collections and anthologies, the presenter will suggest, through discussion of examples, some guidelines which may be helpful to those aiming to write short-form poetry of genuinely publishable worth.
Philip Rowland is a British poet and professor based in Tokyo. He is the founding editor of NOON: journal of the short poem and co-editor of the anthology Haiku in English: The First Hundred Years (W.W. Norton, 2013). His most recent book is An Open Parenthesis (Isobar Press, 2022).
Richard Evanoff
Transcultural Writing and the Thorny Problem of Cultural Appropriation
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Transcultural Writing, Cultural Hybridity, Cultural Appropriation
Foreign writers abroad and others writing in English may adopt literary forms, use settings, or try to get “inside the heads” of characters from cultures which are different from their own. On the one hand, “cultural appropriation” can be regarded as an innocuous and even legitimate way for authors to blend cultures into new transcultural and hybrid forms. On the other hand, the phrase is increasingly being used to defend cultural forms from intrusions by “outsiders.” What exactly is the dividing line between “appropriate” and “inappropriate” uses of cultural appropriation? The first half of this presentation will delineate several of the many stances that may be adopted in this debate, using haiku in English and transcultural fiction as examples. The remaining Q/A time will offer participants an opportunity to pool resources and share their own experiences and views on what has now become the thorny problem of cultural appropriation.
Richard Evanoff is a former coordinator of the Tokyo Writers Workshop and editor of Printed Matter. He was founding editor of the literary journal, Edge, and currently organizes the Tokyo Open Mic. In addition to his literary publications, he has written extensively on intercultural philosophy and ethics.
Rogelio F. Garcia Jr.
River as Method: Meandering as a Technique in Nonfiction Writing
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Synaptic essay, meandering, river as method, semantic coding, neuroplasticity
All rivers lead to the sea. But rivers naturally meander. Meandering is caused by the earth’s rotation, exerting a force that bends rivers. No river can naturally form a straight path. My presentation focuses on the river as method: both as a subject in my nonfiction projects and a form which celebrates meandering—not to be looked at as digression but a crucial structure which eventually reveals its necessity upon the reader’s and the essay’s ultimate arrival. I make use of the importance of extended associations, synaptic thinking, neuroplasticity and semantic coding to bring out the sense of play and sense in the play in nonfiction writing.
Elio Garcia teaches film theory at the University of the Philippines Film Institute. He received his PhD in English at the University of Oregon and taught nonfiction at Johns Hopkins University. His poetry, fiction, and essays are published in literary anthologies and journals in the Philippines.
Sara Ellis
Stories in Flux: A Cross-Genre Approach to Climate Fiction
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Climate fiction, solarpunk, hopepunk, climate memoir
This presentation will focus on the emerging genre of climate fiction and its slippery position within genre. After a brief overview of its history, we’ll touch upon related genres such as solarpunk and hopepunk, and look at ways to incorporate climate research and personal experience into stories while navigating the emotional challenges that can often arise as a result. The presentation will finish with a short workshop in which participants will mine and share their experiences of a changing planet.
Sara Ellis is a Lambda Writers Fellow and attended the Milford Science Fiction Workshop in 2017 and 2022. Her stories have appeared in Analog, Shoreline of Infinity, and Fusion Fragment among many others, and are forthcoming in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Her first novel “If the Stars Are Lit” will debut in April 2025 from Luna Press.
Suzanne Kamata
Writing for Emerging Readers
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: fiction, writing, emerging readers, EFL, ESL
Although there seem to be fewer and fewer markets for short fiction, publishers of materials for English language learners remain a viable alternative. Emerging readers crave short, well-written, engaging stories aimed at adults. For writers, this can be a potentially lucrative market, and a chance to explore new ideas and genres. In this session, I will talk about how to write for emerging readers and suggest ways to break into this market.
American Suzanne Kamata is the author/editor of 17 books. In addition, she has published stories for English language learners in The Asahi Weekly, as well as three titles in the Gemma Open Door series. She lives in Tokushima, where she is an associate professor at Naruto University of Education.
Tatsuhiro Yamane, Trishit Banerjee, and Swastika Harsh Jajoo
The FONT of Revitalization: Storytelling & TourismShort
Keywords: Fukushima, storytelling, tourism
The session highlights the innovative approach of F-ATRAs, a company established in 2019 with a mission to revitalise the Futaba and Hamadori (Coastal Fukushima) regions through tourism. In the aftermath of the 2011 disaster, F-ATRAs has focused on creating experiences that reconnect people with the area’s rich history and cultural heritage. One of their key initiatives is the town walking tours in Futaba, which share stories that predate the disaster, allowing participants to gain insight into the lives and traditions of the people who lived there. F-ATRAs also developed the ‘FONT Tour,’ which links the towns of Futaba, Okuma, Namie, and Tomioka. This tour encourages visitors to engage with the region on a personal level, reflecting on town building and the potential for community revitalisation within their own contexts. This session explores how storytelling and tourism work together to rebuild and reimagine these towns.
Tatsuhiro Yamane. A Tokyo native, Yamane transitioned to recovery support after the 2011 earthquake. He later founded F-ATRAs in 2019 to assist community revitalisation via regional tourism. He is also an elected member of the Town Assembly and resides in Futaba with his wife and 3 daughters.
Swastika Harsh Jajoo. Born in New Delhi, India, Jajoo holds a Master’s degree in Linguistics from Tohoku University. She also supports local students with Japanese language instruction. Joining F-ATRAs in 2021, she now manages tours in coastal Fukushima, and teaches English in Namie, where she relocated in 2023.
Trishit Banerjee. Born and brought up in suburbs of Mumbai, India, Trishit holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Tohoku University. He joined F-ATRAs an intern in 2020 and as a full-time employee in 2024 where he develops tours, provides language support, and explores potential markets for the company.
Warren Decker
Pine Needle Bookmark: a Workshop and Exchange of Haiku and Other Very Short Poems
Craft Workshop
Keywords: short poems, haiku, workshop, exchange
Pine needle bookmark is an opportunity for you to share one haiku or any other very short poem (1-20 words) and receive feedback and suggestions from other participants. We will also discuss journals such as Modern Haiku, Frogpond, NOON, Acorn, Whiptail, and Kingfisher, where you might be able to publish your poem. All participants who would like to share a poem will need to email me beforehand (even if it’s on the night before the conference!) with your poem on a PowerPoint slide, to this address: warrennout@gmail.com. Of course, there is no obligation to share, and anyone who is interested in reading, writing, and publishing very short poetry and haiku is welcome to join.
Warren Decker is the author of The Long Side of the Midnight Sun (Isobar Press, 2020) and has published poetry, fiction and non-fiction in The Best American Poetry 2018, NOON, Modern Haiku, Sou’wester, DON magazine and other journals. He also performs his rhymed poetry in the Kansai area.
Yoko Morgenstern
Short Stories: online or in print?
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: short story, flash fiction, short story collection, online piracy
As a short story writer, it is always a great pleasure to see my work in print; however, with the relatively small circulations of most literary journals, it is hard to reach a greater audience. Online publications are great for that matter, but the work will be therefore put in a vulnerable position against online piracy. How do we protect our work? Gleaning evidence from my own case, I will explain how my flash fiction ended up being translated, optioned for a podcast, and abused.
Secondly, is it true or a myth that short story collections don’t sell? Despite publishers’ hesitation, short stories are the literary forms that match the busy, modern readership. How could we, short story writers convince the industry that short story collections are publishable, which, I believe, is one way of saving stories from online vulnerability?
Originally from Tokyo, Yoko Morgenstern started writing fiction while living in Canada. She received an M.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Bamberg. She is a member of the Japan P.E.N. Club. In 2024, she is awarded a literature prize from the City of Stein, Germany.
Yoko Morgenstern & Katherine Govier
Transcreation in literature: How much should a translator intervene in reverse translation?
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: Transcreation, reverse translation, own voices
The term “transcreation” has become one of the key features in marketing translation to make copywriting more acceptable to the target audience. Does it work in literary translation as well? If so, how much alteration would be considered as “true to the original?” When you are translating a novel that is set in your country and written in another language back to your own language, reverse translation is inevitable. How much freedom does a translator enjoy in this case? How far can a translator intervene if things don’t sound authentic to the target audience? Should fiction be written only by the Ownvoices authors? Gleaning evidence from my own translation work, I’d like to discuss these sensitive themes with my author.
Originally from Tokyo, Yoko Morgenstern started writing fiction while living in Canada. She received an M.A. in English and American Studies from the University of Bamberg. She is a member of the Japan P.E.N. Club. In 2024, she is awarded a literature prize from the City of Stein, Germany.
Katherine Govier is a Canadian novelist. She has been Chair of the Writers’ Trust of Canada and President of PEN Canada. Her novel, The Ghost Brush, focusing on the life of Katsushika Oi, has been translated into six languages. She founded The Shoe Project, a writing workshop for immigrant women.
Z.T. Balian
Pitfalls of Writing about Human Tragedies (e.g. War, Genocide, Nuclear Disaster) and How to Avoid Them
Short lecture with Q&A
Keywords: poetry, fiction, writing process, pitfalls, human tragedies
In both fiction and poetry, the following have to be considered when dealing with human tragedies such as ethnic cleansing:
Multilingual author, Z. T. Balian, holds an MA in English Literature from the American University of Beirut. As a university lecturer, she has published several academic English textbooks. Her translations include poetry in English, French, Armenian, Arabic, and Turkish. She now devotes her time to writing poetry and fiction.