Stuff contributed by traciakemi

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Dancing in the Clouds
Shō Tanaka, Paulette M. Moreno, traci kato-kiriyama
This month, we have the honor of publishing works by two poets who lent their voices to our second annual reading last week for “Nikkei Uncovered”—Shō Tanaka and Paulette M. Moreno. They both took great care in what and how they delivered their words together as a pairing that we …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Hailing
Miya Iwataki, traci kato-kiriyama
This month, we are honored to again feature the fierce Miya Iwataki, a veteran activist, core member of NCRR (Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress), and writer based in Los Angeles. She presents four poems here—an observation of and hailing to the world around her, from the intimate to the …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Year-ending
Amy Uyematsu, Tamiko Nimura, traci kato-kiriyama
As we survey the past year of lockdowns and quarantines that started here in the States by mid-March, 2020, we take stock of a wide spectrum of revelations and experiences over the last twelve months. From new personal practices and experiments in the arena of safer-at-home, to illness and loss, …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
In this moment
Rino Kodama, Carolee Okamoto, traci kato-kiriyama
While we typically link a theme together from the poems we receive from two or more writers, this month we're featuring two voices whose pieces are situated very personally within their own moments, within their own season. Seattle-based Sansei Carolee Okamoto just began writing in 2017 as a way to …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Seize—transformation & renewal
Brian Komei Dempster, traci kato-kiriyama
Leaving the end of a long 2020 while entering 2021 with a combination of uncertainty, excitement, determined joy, and perpetual angst, I thought it fitting to have this month’s theme derive its inspiration from the writer and the title of his latest book of poetry, Seize. This month’s feature, Brian …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Wonder
Curtiss Takada Rooks, Mariko Fujimoto Rooks, traci kato-kiriyama
To close out 2020 and recognize it as a time of challenge, reckoning and coming together, we are excited to end on a strong and beautiful note with this month's feature. We are happy to host the return to Nikkei Uncovered by Mariko Fujimoto Rooks and, this time, feature Mariko …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Moonlight
Boshichō Okamura, traci kato-kiriyama
We have the immense pleasure of presenting several haiku from Boshichō Okamura for November. Ever since his grandson, Michael Okamura (of the Little Tokyo Historical Society), began sharing his haiku with me, I've dreamed of recreating a haiku club in Little Tokyo in homage to the Agosto-Sha poetry club that …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Reflections
Yukiya Jerry Waki, traci kato-kiriyama
Hello to you all in the midst of October and the beginning of our final quarter for 2020. I’ve asked the folks we’re featuring this quarter to share pieces of reflection, whether of the immediate, or of a lifetime thus far. Today’s piece from San Francisco-based, Shin-Nisei, Yukiya Jerry Waki, …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Regreso
Juan de la Fuente Umetsu, traci kato-kiriyama
En este mes, tenemos el honor de presentar un único poema de Juan de la Fuente Umetsu, poeta, periodista y editor nacido en Lima, Perú, en 1963. Tras leerlo usando una traducción informal (léase: Google translate) del poema, le pedí a mi pareja que llamara a su madre, una pianista que …

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column
Inspiration
Amy Uyematsu, G Yamazawa, traci kato-kiriyama
Hello Discover Nikkei network! I am beyond thrilled this month to bring this pair of poets to the Nikkei Uncovered poetry column. LA-born and raised, veteran Sansei poet and our inaugural feature for the column back in 2016, Amy Uyematsu returns to us with a beautiful piece about Tanko Bushi …