English Department Colloquium and Reading Series

October 29, 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Mānoa Campus, Kuykendall 410 Add to Calendar

Readings from two new novels about Japan from two Hawaii-based authors:

Big in Japan: A Ghost Story by M. Thomas Gammarino

Oh! A Mystery of "Mono no Aware" by Todd Shimoda, art by L.J.C. (Linda) Shimoda

Reception and book-signings to follow reading

BIG IN JAPAN is a Dantesque coming-of-age tale in which Brain Tedesco, a progressive rock band musician touring Japan, must navigate the borderlands between fantasy and reality, past and present, sex and death—even as forces beyond his control conspire to undo him.

OH! is an art-filled and intricately-designed novel of Zack Hara’s self-discovery through Japanese poetry, the aesthetic of mono no aware ("things causing intense emotional awareness"), and the tragic phenomenon of suicide clubs formed in social networking websites.

M. Thomas Gammarino has an MFA in creative writing from the New School and is pursuing a PhD in English at the University of Hawaii. In 2000-01, he was a Fulbright Fellow in creative writing at Kyoto’s Doshisha University.

Todd Shimoda, of Hawai‘i, has published three novels exploring Japan and Japanese themes: Oh! A Mystery of "Mono no Aware" (Chin Music Press), The Fourth Treasure (Nan Talese/Doubleday), and 365 Views of Mt. Fuji (Stone Bridge Press).

Linda Shimoda, of Hawaii, is an artist, illustrator and book designer. She studied classical Japanese shodo (calligraphy) and using the techniques she developed a unique style of expressionistic Japanese brush art.


Event Sponsor
English Department, Mānoa Campus

More Information
English Department, 808-956-7619

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