Join anthology editor Leah Stenson and renowned shakuhachi player Larry Tyrrell for a powerful evening of bilingual poetry and heartfelt music to celebrate the launch of Reverberations from Fukushima, a timely cross-cultural and socially relevant new anthology of contemporary Japanese poetry that brings the depth and scope of the human tragedy into clear focus.

Guest readers include Oregon Poet Laureate Peter Sears and native speaker Kayoko Gille who will read in Japanese. A photo presentation of Fukushima will precede the launch and light Japanese snacks will be served.

Friday, May 30 at 7pm
TaborSpace, 5441 SE Belmont Street, Portland, OR 97215
Free and open to the public

This moving anthology offers readers a deeper understanding of the Fukushima nuclear disaster from a humanistic rather than technological or political perspective while at the same time enhancing appreciation of contemporary Japanese poetry. These poems provide American readers with an opportunity to connect heart-to-heart with the Japanese, who have suffered both the horror of nuclear weapons and the tragedy of a nuclear accident.

Leah Stenson is an established poet, practicing Buddhist, and member of the Interfaith Council of Greater Portland, who spent 16 years teaching at university in Japan. She hosts the Studio Series, a popular venue for established poets in the Pacific Northwest. For more information please visit www.leahstenson.com.

Larry Tyrrell is the foremost player and teacher of shakuhachi in the Pacific Northwest. Trained in Japan, he is a composer, recording artist and performer who delights in sharing the serene and lyrical music of the shakuhachi. For more information please visit www.vimeo.com/shakuhachigaku

Reverberations from Fukushima also includes the original Japanese text of the 50 poems that appear in translation as well as remarks by editors Stenson and Sarukawa Aroldi, essays by nuclear activist David Krieger and nuclear policy expert Francesca Giovannini, and commentary by esteemed Japanese poets Jotaro Wakamatsu and Hisao Suzuki.

Title: Reverberations from Fukushima: 50 Japanese Poets Speak Out
Languages: English & Japanese
Editors: Leah Stenson and Asao Sarukawa Aroldi
ISBN: 978-1-62901-065-6
Publisher: Inkwater Press
Pub Date: March 2014
Price: $14.95 Kindle & ePub: $3.99
Pages: 192
Availability: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s Books, InkwaterBooks.com
Distribution: Ingram, Baker & Taylor

Sometimes a poet can grasp the human significance of a technological failure better than a scientist. We are fortunate to have these poetic voices from Japan collected here. May we hear them and, more importantly, may we heed them.
—JOHN PEARSON, MD, Immediate Past President,
Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility