Kendall Tani
Kendall Tani is an artist and poet currently based in their hometown of Mammoth Lakes, CA. Currently, much of their creative energy and focus is invested into the multidisciplinary Asian American arts collaborative Bonbu Stories, which combines music, spoken word, taiko, and movement to explore vulnerability and connection.
When not making art or working at their family’s Japanese restaurant, they can be found hiking, weightlifting, and, honestly, just being alive. You can find more of their work at kendalltani.com or on Instagram @_sowasowa and @bonbustories.
Updated March 2023
Stories from This Author
Surrender — Part 1
March 16, 2023 • Kendall Tani , traci kato-kiriyama
We are delighted to present poetry from Mammoth Lake, CA based artist, Kendall Tani. Kendall shares an intimate exploration of tenderness and loss, and also generously provides writing here that includes a piece (Surrender) from a larger, collective process with Bonbu Stories - a multidisciplinary Asian American artists collective I've gotten to know more recently. We'll soon feature other parts of the collective's writing tied to Surrender in upcoming Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry columns, so stay tuned, and enjoy... —traci kato-kiriyama * * * …
Comfort
April 16, 2020 • Kendall Tani , Susan Yamamura , traci kato-kiriyama
This month, we feature California-based Yonsei writer, Kendall Tani, and Arizona-based Sansei writer, Susan Yamamura. Susan’s is a lighthearted parody poem that heralds where we look for some solace during a time of major strife, while Kendall’s first piece featured here, soft bodies, speaks to a relationship with oneself through an intimate practice of shaping earth (and future) by hand. Both reminded me of the ideas of comfort and doing something good for ourselves...like poetry, a vessel through which we …
